


When You Reach Me

by RowanSparrow



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Asphyxiation, Betrayal, Burn trauma, Burns, Chains, Character Death, Choking, Clones get captured, Codenames, Death Threats, Drowning, Eventual Smut, Evisceration, Flowers, Fluff and Smut, Graphic Burn Injuries, Graphic Description, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, Mind Games, Monsters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Puzzles, Serious Injuries, Torture, Traps
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-04-08 05:25:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 29,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14098188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowanSparrow/pseuds/RowanSparrow
Summary: Eight of the finest soldiers in the GAR - Rex, Fives, Cody, Wolffe, Bly, Jesse, Kix, and Tup - are taken hostage by a mysterious figure who only refers to himself as "Clover". Clover tells them that they have all been placed in a labyrinth, designed to test their wits, their strength, and their intelligence. Each of them have been given a flower codename, and have been released into the labyrinth where all their worst nightmares will be realized. Their Objective: Find their corresponding flower and take it to the altar in the center of the Labyrinth. The Catch: only one of them can make it out alive.





	1. Vanishing Act

**Author's Note:**

> I'm terrible at summaries but I promise this story is cool. Updates will come every 3-5 days, so be on the lookout!

**Subject ID: CC-3636**

**Alias: “Wolffe”**

**Assignment: Black Iris**

**Corresponding Subject: Corpse Flower**

**Commanding Officer: Jedi Master Plo Koon**

**Maze Location: Level Three Area Six**

**Partner: N/A**

**FRENZY Status: INFECTED**

**Notes: Commander. Loyal. Dangerous. Features – Standard Hair, scar through right eye, has cybernetic replacement. Given FRENZY shortly after taken. Approx. time of effect: 12 standard hrs.**

~

A drop of blue paint was beginning to bead on the tip of Captain Rex’s brush, and he gently swiped his thumb along the fine bristles, catching it before it could splatter onto his armor. He had been in the middle of very carefully touching up the paint on his shoulder bells, though the bead of blue paint had been threatening to dribble directly onto the meticulously repainted Jaig eyes on the captain’s helmet, which was sitting out to dry at Rex’s feet.

Rex arched his back, hearing his spine crackle from straightening up after being hunched over for so long, and he sighed softly. A deep chuckle sounded from behind him, and Fives spoke.  

“Need a break, Captain?” The ARC Trooper leaned his head back against Rex’s shoulder, smirking up at him. Fives and Rex had been sitting back-to-back on the floor of Rex’s quarters for hours, in in complete silence and dressed in nothing but their blacks, touching up the paint on their armor. It was something of a tradition, for the pair of them. It was rare that Fives and Rex were in the same place nowadays, since Fives had been promoted to ARC trooper, and even rarer that the two of them could enjoy each other’s company peacefully, without the call of duty.

“Just needed to stretch a bit.” Rex answered, tilting his head down at the younger _vod_ and leaning into his back. “When do you ship out?”

“0800 hours. I’m headed to Ryloth.” Fives replied, leaning forward again to put the final touches on the Rishi Eel design on the front of his helmet.

Rex hummed softly, closing his eyes and letting Fives’s body heat from where their backs were pressed together warm him. Rex pressed his shoulders gently into the other trooper’s. Rex’s shoulders weren’t as broad as Fives’s were, not after all the extra conditioning and training that came with being an ARC trooper, but they still fit together almost perfectly.

“You should see Tup, before you leave.” Rex began, leaning forward again to put the last bit of paint on his shoulder plates. “He’s been working with some shinies, helping me integrate them into the 501st. He’s good with the younger _vod.”_

“He _is_ the younger _vod.”_ There was bitterness sharpening the edges of Fives’s voice, and Rex glanced at him over his shoulder.

“So are you,” He only hesitated a moment before smirking and tacking on “ _Vod’ika.”_

Rex didn’t have to look at Fives to know he was scowling. “ _Di’kut.”_

A few moments of silence, and Fives continued. “They’re sending them out at eight now.”

“Leave it, Fives.”

“ _Eight.”_ Fives repeated, firmly. “Kids, Rex. They’re kids. You can still see it in their faces.” He paused a moment to set his helmet inside, snatching up his vambraces with a little more force than necessary. “I was planet-side on a mission a few rotations ago, on Felucia; Me, a couple other ARCs, and a handful of shinies.” He cursed softly to himself. A spatter of paint had slipped from his brush before he could catch it and had landed dangerously close to his boots. “It was supposed to be easy. The shinies were mostly just there for the extra heat, in case things got hairy. The ARCs were supposed to do most of the work.” He shook his head. “We got caught in a crossfire. We lost one of our ARCs, and all the shinies but one.”

Rex knew about the mission. He remembered seeing the report come across the officer’s com-channels, heart skipping a beat when he saw Fives’s name on the list, relief when Rex realized the headstrong trooper had made it out unscathed.

“The kid looked so haunted, Rex.” Fives murmured, his paintbrush stilling along the vambraces. “He was so young, he still looked like a cadet, still had those too-wide eyes, round face.” He shook his head. “That’s not something I can just… _overlook.”_

Rex didn’t respond, focusing back into finishing his armor, setting the last pieces aside.

“I’ll finish.” He told Fives quietly.

“You’ll what?” Fives asked, turning over his shoulder to look at him.

“I’ll finish painting your armor.” Rex repeated. “It’s just your vambraces and cuirass left, right?”

“Yeah, but-.”

“I’ll finish it for you. Go see Tup.”

Fives hesitated a moment, shifting so he was crouching in front of Rex instead of leaning against his back. “I need a place to stay tonight.”

“Are you asking for a bed?”

“Are you offering one?”

Rex chuckled, nodding his head towards the door. “Go on.”

Fives grinned, wrapping one hand around the back of Rex’s neck and pulling him close, pressing their foreheads together.

“I’ll be back soon, _cyare.”_ He stood up, pulling on his boots and grabbing his com-link, trotting out of the room.

~

**Subject ID: CC-5052**

**Alias: “Bly”**

**Assignment: Poppy**

**Corresponding Subject: Sunflower**

**Commanding Officer: Jedi Master Aayla Secura**

**Maze Location: Version Three Area Three**

**Partner: Bloodflower**

**FRENZY Status: N/A**

**Notes: Unwavering loyalty to General. Respected among men and other C.O.’s. Features – Dark buzzcut hair. Two yellow patch tattoos under eyes.**

~

Commander Wolffe chuckled, taking a swig of his drink. 79s was busy, even more so than usual. Sinker was chatting up a pair of Twi’lek women at the bar, Comet and Boost both on the dance floor, grinding up against a Coruscant Guard officer between them. That had been granted a rare reprieve from combat, and, judging from the way Sinker was now leading the two women out, and Comet and Boost were working the officer into a semi-private booth, the Wolfpack was in for a pleasant evening.

Wolffe downed the last of his drink and rose to his feet, heading to the bathroom. He shot a glance across the room at Sinker, watching him disappear in the direction of the private back rooms of 79s with the two Twi’leks.

Briefly, Wolffe considered going back to the barracks early tonight. He had only gone out with the boys in the first place at their insistence. He had mountains of paperwork that needed to be done from their last mission.

 _No rest for the wicked,_ he thought ruefully, nudging open the door to the bathrooms with his shoulder. He wondered if General Plo would also be awake, finishing up his own reports. Wolffe wouldn’t mind sludging through paperwork if he was in the company of his General. No, he wouldn’t mind that at all.

He was still deeply wrapped up in his own thoughts when someone entered the bathroom a few minutes later, the door swinging quietly closed behind them. Wolffe glanced up at the mirror, dark eyes settling on a masked figure standing just in front of the bathroom door, dressed completely in black.

“What the-.” Wolffe spun around, drawing his gun as he did. “Who are you?”

The figure stepped forward, flicking his wrist out. A cloud of dark smoke leapt out at him, and Wolffe threw a hand up to try and shield his face, holding his breath as he ducked below the smoke, firing off a shot in the direction of his attacker. He covered his mouth, dropping to his stomach and crawling towards the door, the hand not over his face still holding his gun. It was… it was getting harder to breathe.

“Shh… hush, now, Commander. Don’t struggle.” A voice crooned, and the masked figure knelt over Wolffe. That voice… he’d heard that voice before. His vision was blurring, he couldn’t move. Why couldn’t he move?! He was suffocating, he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe.

“Relax, Commander. It’ll be quick.”

The gas engulfed him swiftly, and within seconds, he was unconscious.

~

**Subject ID: CT-6116**

**Alias: “Kix”**

**Assignment: Belladonna**

**Corresponding Subject: Poppy**

**Commanding Officer: Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker**

**Maze Location: Version Two Area Four**

**Partner: N/A**

**FRENZY Status: N/A**

**Notes: Medic. Can have a commander’s presence. Strong relationship with fellow soldiers. Features – Buzzcut hair w/bolt patterns, “A Good Droid Is a Dead One” In Aurebesh tattooed on side of head.**

~

Commander Cody lifted the blankets up around his Jedi, gently covering his bare chest. He smiled down at him, kissing his cheek lightly before swinging out of bed and picking up some of his discarded armor from the night before.

“Come back to bed.” Obi-Wan Kenobi murmured in the darkness, shifting slightly in bed.

“I can’t, love. I’m overdue on the last mission report.” He leaned down over Obi-Wan, lightly kissing him. “We can pick up where we left off when I get back.”

Obi-Wan smiled, tangling a hand up in his hair and kissing him deeper.

“When will you be back?” He murmured sleepily.

“Hopefully before you’re due at the Temple. But just in case,” Cody kissed the tip of his nose. “Wear that grey tunic I like, yeah?”

“Why?” Obi-Wan asked, exhaling softly through his nose, his eyes fluttering open slightly.

“You look really good in it. Plus, it accents your collarbone, which is nice because if I remember correctly…” Cody lowered his head slightly, fitting his mouth perfectly around a set of teeth marks, a soft purple against his skin. “…I left a little mark right here.”

“And all over my back, and one on the inside of my thigh, which is dreadfully uncivilized, I must add.” He smirked, pulling Cody back down on top of him. He chuckled, running his fingers along the nail marks on his Commander’s back. “Though, it wasn’t entirely unwelcome.”

Cody chuckled, then kissed him chastely. “I’m going to use the ‘fresher. You can join me if you want, or you can stay in bed.”

Obi-Wan groaned low in his throat, rolling over in bed. “I believe I’ll leave you to shower on your own, thank you.” He mumbled into his pillow, already half-asleep again. Cody rolled his eyes, stepping into the refresher and leaving his Jedi to sleep.

~

**Subject ID: CT-5597**

**Alias: “Jesse”**

**Assignment: Sunflower**

**Corresponding Subject: Black Iris**

**Commanding Officer: Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker**

**Maze Location: Level One Area One**

**Partner: Corpse Flower**

**FRENZY Status: N/A**

**Notes: Known instances of disobedience, divergences in commands. Involved in the incident on Umbara. See Data-File: Pong Krell. See Data-File: Umbaran Starfighters – Report. Requires observation. Features – shaved head, Republic Cog tattooed onto face.**

~

Fives stepped into the 501st barracks, treading softly around the bunks in search of Tup. Many of them were empty – most of the 501st men were probably off-base, celebrating the off time – but the lack of troops made Fives somewhat uneasy.

He had already checked the workout room, where he’d expected to find his friend, but that was also strangely deserted. He’d checked the mess hall next, which was, yet again, silent as a tomb. The whole base seemed eerily quiet, and Fives felt a trickle of discomfort slide up his spine. It was like that feeling he got right before a bad battle, and his intuition was rarely wrong.

Fives waved his hand experimentally overhead, just to make sure. When he’d first entered, the lights did not automatically switch on as they should have. Even when he pressed the manual light switch, they remained firmly off. Even the motion sensors hadn’t picked up his movements and activated the lights.  He checked his com-link again, his messages to Tup unread, no response yet from the other trooper. Fives furrowed his brow, stepping further into the dark barracks and using his com-link as a very dim light, typing out another message, this time to Rex.

_ARC-5555: Are you sure Tup is planet-side?_

It didn’t take long for the Captain to reply, indignant.

_CT-7567: Of course I’m sure, he’s one of my men._

_ARC-5555: Can’t find him._

_CT-7567: Hm. Would’ve thought all that fancy ARC training would’ve upgraded your tracking skills a bit. I see they’re still dim as ever._

_ARC-5555: Very Funny. Perhaps I should remind you – the longer it takes me to find Tup, the longer I’ll be gone._

_CT-7567: Noted. Have you tried reaching him on the com-link? He may have gone to 79s with the others._

_ARC-5555: Tried that. He isn’t answering._

_CT-7567: Maybe he’s busy… as you should be._

It took all of Fives’s strength not to roll his eyes, though he almost did anyway.

_ARC-5555: When did you become su_

He stopped mid-word, freezing in place. He’d heard something, on the other side of the barracks.

“Tup?” He called, his voice barely above a whisper. His voice surprised even himself. He had no reason to speak quietly, he was an ARC trooper among his own battalion’s barracks, there was no reason for him to act cautiously.

And yet…

That quiet ripple of alarm slipped up and down his spine again, and Fives instinctively reached for his guns, only to realize somewhat alarmedly that he didn’t _have_ his guns, or his armor. He sucked in a low breath, dropping into a crouch as the hair stood up on the back of his neck and he moved cautiously around one of the bunks.

“Who’s there?” He called, a little louder. “Identify yourself!”

Something moved on his left, and Fives ducked just in the nick of time, something blunt and heavy slashing through the place his head had been moments ago.

“Skrag!” Fives cursed, scrambling backwards. He fumbled in the darkness, trying to make his way back towards the door. The weapon slammed downward again, this time ricocheting off a nearby bunk and dipping downwards, barely grazing Fives’s left shoulder. He rolled to the side, sliding under one of the bunks, freezing in place. Footsteps began around him, circling the barracks. His attacker hadn’t seen him slip under the bed.

For now, Fives was almost grateful he didn’t have his armor. His blacks allowed him to move much quieter, crawling from bunk to bunk, inching around in the darkness in search of the door. The red light coming from the access panel was his beacon of hope, and Fives pulled himself forward from beneath one bunk, wriggling swiftly under the cover of another one, dodging his assailant.

_If I can just make it to the door…_

He wondered if he could risk activating his com-link, sending a message to Rex. The light, feeble as it was, would surely give him away in the darkness of the room. Even if he didn’t have the light, chirp of his com-link powering on would give away his hiding place just as quickly. No, the ARC trooper was on his own for this one.

He inhaled through his nose, eyes fixed on the door. It was only a few paces in front of him now, but he’d lost track of the attacker.

_Bolt for the door, or stay hidden until I can figure out where this guy is?_

A creak somewhere nearby, too soft and quick for Fives to identify what direction it came from. He reached forward, preparing to lunge out from under the bed and bolt for the door –

A large hand wrapped around his ankle, dragging him out from his hiding place.

Fives wasted no time in shooting his other foot out, driving the heel of his boot directly into the jaw of his attacker. He felt the bone make a very satisfying crack as the figure let go, and grinned.

“You want a piece of me?!” Fives bellowed, hauling himself to his feet. “Come and get it!”

He turned, intending to sprint for the door but instead slamming into something very solid and very large directly in front of him.

“Heh heh, this kid.” A voice chuckled in front of him. “He never learns, does he?”

Someone grabbed him from behind, a cloth covering his mouth and nose. Fives could only struggle futilely for a few moments before his eyes slipped closed, and he slumped over on the floor.

~

**Subject ID: CT-5385**

**Alias: “Tup”**

**Assignment: Snapdragon**

**Corresponding Subject: Bloodflower**

**Commanding Officer: Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker**

**Maze Location: Level One, Area Three**

**Partner: N/A**

**FRENZY Status: N/A**

**Notes: Was involved in the incident on Umbara. See Data-File: Pong Krell. Features – Hair longer than most, kept in tight bun. Teardrop tattoo under right eye.**


	2. The Last Subjects are Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update came a day early! I was too excited to wait. :)

Cody frowned at his datapad, smacking the back of it one last time in a last-ditch effort to get the blasted thing to turn on. “How did he fix this last time…?” He tried once again to turn the datapad on, to no avail. The last time it had stopped working, Wooley had walked him through how to fix it, though Cody couldn’t remember now what he’d done.

His commlink beeped at him insistently, and Cody sighed, glancing down at it.

_CT-7567: Got a second?_

_CC-2224: Depends. How good are you at resetting datapads?_

_CT-7567: Think something happened to Fives._

Cody’s frown deepened, straightening up in his chair as his commlink beeped again.

_CT-7567: Tup too._

_CC-2224: Head count?_

_CT-7567: Everyone was accounted for at check in._

_CC-2224: What makes you think something’s wrong?_

A long pause, then another ding.

_CT-7567: Can’t shake this feeling._

Cody scoffed, setting his commlink aside. Little gods, he hoped he never sounded like that when he spoke about Kenobi. His commlink continued to trill at him.

_CT-7567: He cut off mid word on his last message to me. He didn’t pick up when I commed him either._

_CT-7567: He was looking for Tup, said he couldn’t find him either._

_CT-7567: Something doesn’t feel right._

Cody finally snatched up his commlink again, thumbing out a reply.

_CC-2224: They’re probably at 79s. Get ahold of yourself._

_CT-7567: I’m checking the barracks. I’ll let you know if I find anything._

Cody shook his head, shutting off his commlink again and turning back to his datapad. The karking thing had finally managed to power itself on, the screen slowly materializing. Cody settled back in his chair, scrolling through his reports, when a notification popped up in the corner of the screen. It was a video message sent from the strategy room, in the Jedi Temple. Cody clicked on it, furrowing his brow and leaning forward, watching the message play.

At first, it was just the strategy room, the lights off and strategy table deactivated. The only light in the room coming from the open door, leading out into the halls of the Temple. Cody narrowed his eyes, eyes focused intently on the doorway.

“What the kriff…?”

The lights in the strategy room suddenly came on, illuminating the darkened room and casting light on a figure, slumped on the floor, half-hidden behind the holotable in the center of the room. Cody jumped, eyes widening. It was clearly a clone, the plated armor unmistakable. But even though the upper half of the body was hidden behind the table, Cody recognized the yellow plates belonging to Aayla Secura’s battalion.

He grabbed his commlink again, thumbing out a quick message to Commander Bly.

_CC-2224: Do you have a man in the strategy room of the Jedi Temple?_

A ding, but not from his own commlink. He looked back up at the video, and the portion of arm that Cody could see was glowing. The soldier’s commlink had come on.

Experimentally, Cody sent another message.

_CC-2224: Bly?_

Again, the commlink on the feed chirped again, and Cody felt his stomach drop. That was Bly. That was Bly and this feed was _live._

Cody had barely managed to register exactly what it was he was looking at before Bly was suddenly dragged off-screen, and the strategy table flickered to life, a hologram of a figure entirely covered from head to toe, hiding all his features, and a pair of goggles over the figure’s eyes.

“Where is your General?” The hologram asked. “Where is your General?”

The feed cut out, and Cody was left trembling in his chair, shaken.

_Obi-Wan…_

He stood up so fast he knocked over his chair. He sprinted out of his office and back towards Obi-Wan’s quarters, his commlink beeping all the way.

_CC-5052: Where is your General?_

_CC-5052: Where is your General?_

_CT-7567: Cody there’s blood in the barracks._

_CC-5052: Where is your General?_

_CT-7567: Kriff, Cody. I can’t find anyone else. They’re all just gone._

_CC-5052: Where is your General?_

_CC-5052: Where is your General?_

_CC-5052: Where is your General?_

_CT-7567: I think we’re the only ones left._

_~_

**Subject ID: ARC-5555**

**Alias: “Fives”**

**Assignment: Corpse Flower**

**Corresponding Subject: Snapdragon**

**Commanding Officer: Unaffiliated (ARC TROOPER – was formerly part of the 501 st legion under Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker)**

**Maze Location: Level Two, Area Four**

**Partner: Sunflower**

**FRENZY Status: N/A**

**Notes: Multiple instances of disobedience, some misconduct. Was involved in the incident on Umbara. See Data-File: Pong Krell. See Data-File: Umbaran Starfighter – Report. “free-thinker”, must be bred out of subject. Skilled trooper. See Data-File: DOMINO SQUAD – Report.**

~

Moments after Rex had managed to send his final message to Cody, a pair of hands circled around his shoulders, one arm holding him in place and the other attempting to shove a cloth soaked in something foul-smelling up against his face. He held his breath, driving his head back and popping his attacker in the nose. He dropped the Captain, and Rex dropped, swiping his foot out and taking out the other man’s kneecaps, the assailant howling in pain as he fell backwards. Rex blinked away the haze from what little of the drug made it into his system and grabbed the masked man by the collar.

“Who are you?!” He shouted. “What have you done with the others?!”

The figure chuckled, blood caking the front of his fabric mask.

“Better run, Captain.” He answered thickly, speaking around the rivulets of blood pouring from his broken nose. “There’s more coming.”

He looked up, finally registering the two other masked figures in the barracks, both moving rapidly towards him. He cursed, springing to his feet and abandoning the barracks, tearing down the hall towards Cody’s quarters.

“Cody!” Rex shouted into his commlink. “Cody, do you copy?! I’m under attack, the base is compromised, I repeat -.”

Another figure rounded the corner just up ahead, and Rex skidded to a halt, turning around only to see two more coming up behind him. He was pinned.

Rex grit his teeth, balling his hands into fists and putting them up near his face. The man behind him chuckled.

“Do intend to fight us, Captain?” He asked, the mask muffling his voice slightly.

“You don’t give me much choice.” Rex snapped back, rocking on his heels. The man chuckled again.

“Do you wish to see the ARC again?” He tilted his head inquiringly to the side, and Rex’s jaw twitched.

“What have you done with him?” He demanded. The man in the mask stepped forward.

“All in good time,” he purred. Within the blink of an eye, he was on top of Rex, pinning him roughly to the floor. He’d moved so quickly, Rex didn’t even realize he’d moved until he was on him. “You’ll be joining him soon enough.”

He held Rex down, and one of the other men stepped forward, lifting a syringe and pricking it into Rex’s neck. Rex struggled a few moments, his eyes drooping closed and body going slack.

~

**Subject ID: CT-7567**

**Alias: “Rex”**

**Assignment: Bloodflower**

**Corresponding Subject: Lotus**

**Commanding Officer: Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker**

**Maze Location: Level Three Area Three**

**Partner: Poppy**

**FRENZY Status: N/A**

**Notes: Captain. Well-respected among men. Led his men during the incident on Umbara. See Data-File: Pong Krell. See Data-File: Siege of Umbara. Features – short blond hair, no visible tattoos or markings.**

~

Cody burst into Obi-Wan’s quarters, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as he called his beloved’s name.

“Obi-Wan?” The bed was made, his clothes gone, but something was off. “Obi-Wan?!”

It clicked with him, suddenly, and he spun around again. The faint smell of tea leaves that always seemed to linger on Obi-Wan’s clothes and in his quarters was gone. In fact, _all_ the things that made this Obi-Wan’s quarters was gone. The smell of tea, the datapad he always kept on his nightstand, the sabacc set he kept on the table. All of it was gone, like Obi-Wan had never lived here at all.

“Obi-Wan!”

When he turned around again, back towards the door, a figure stood waiting, arms folded, a black mask hiding their features.

“Hello Commander.” The figure hissed. He leapt forward, but Cody was ready for him. The two men grappled for control, Cody catching the man in a headlock, but only to have the man drive his elbow back against Cody’s gut hard enough to knock the wind out of him temporarily. The man swiveled, leaping on Cody again, this time knocking him to the ground entirely. Cody drove his foot upwards, landing a very satisfying kick against the man’s ribs, felt the brittle bones shatter beneath his heel. To Cody’s complete shock, this didn’t even seem to slow him down. Instead he seemed to move _faster._

He pinned Cody to the ground, grinding his face into the floor, knee pressed between Cody’s shoulder blades and pinning his hands behind his back.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” the voice chuckled. “My body absorbs the attacks of my enemies, turns it into energy for me.” He pressed harder against Cody’s shoulder blades, eliciting a faint groan from the other man. “Every time you hurt me, it just makes me stronger.”

He grabbed one of Cody’s wrists, chuckling darkly in the back of his throat.

“You, on the other hand…”

He forced the limb upwards, and Cody heard rather than felt a very distinct crack in his shoulder. He cried out, but only for a moment, biting down hard on his lip to keep himself from giving in to the pain. “Go fuck a Sith.” He ground out, trying not to wince.

The man clicked his tongue, leaning back down to Cody. He felt something sharp prick his neck.

“My dear Commander…” He murmured, “You’re one of the finest specimens I’ve ever seen.”

His eyes grew heavy and foggy, and the man’s voice became faraway, distant.

“You know I can’t just let you go.”

~

**Subject ID: CC-2224**

**Alias: “Cody”**

**Assignment: Lotus**

**Corresponding Subject: Belladonna**

**Commanding Officer: Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi**

**Maze Location: Level One, Area Two**

**Partner: N/A**

**FRENZY Status: INFECTED**

**Notes: Commander. Intelligent. Mutual respect between general and commander.  Unwavering Loyalty. Given FRENZY shortly after taken. Approx. Time of effect: 12 standard hrs. Features – Standard hair, hook-shaped scar across left side of face.**

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's been taken. Everyone's in position. But where exactly are they?  
> Updates come every 3-5 days!


	3. Three Flowers Enter the Labyrinth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update Day! Thanks for all the lovely comments and feedback, it absolutely makes my day! <3

When Wolffe woke up, the world was very dark. His mind was foggy, eyes blinking hazily in the darkness, trying to make sense of the world around him. He tried to move his mouth, tried to call out, but found a long strip of cloth tied around his mouth, effectively gagging him. The rest of his brain caught up quickly after that, and he registered the blindfold over his eyes, and what felt like rope binding his feet and wrists.

_Why rope, and not binders?_

Wolffe tugged on his hands experimentally, found he could easily move his arms. He reached up to his face, yanking off the gag and pulling the blindfold off his eyes. He blinked again, finding the room still very dark. His eyes adjusted quickly, and he grit his teeth, bringing his bound hands up to his mouth as he began attempting to chew through the ropes around his wrists.

**“HELLO COMMANDER.”**

Wolffe jumped, pulling the last bit of rope free from his wrists.

“Who’s there?!” He shouted. One of the walls of the dark room suddenly illuminated, a small screen appearing on the far wall. A figure dressed in all black, a dark hood hiding most of his face.

**“YOU CAN CALL ME CLOVER. I’M THE ONE WHO BROUGHT YOU HERE.”**

“Oh yeah?” Wolffe asked, cautiously reaching down to his feet, beginning to work off the ropes around his ankles. “Where is ‘here’, exactly?”

**“THAT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN AT THE MOMENT, COMMANDER. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR NOW IS YOU ARE ONE OF EIGHT PARTICIPANTS IN THIS EXPERIMENT.”**

“Experiment?” Wolffe repeated, working the binds off his ankles and rising to his feet. As he stood, he registered for the first time what he was wearing. He was dressed like a civvy, except his outfit was entirely grey. Grey pants, a grey shirt, grey shoes, and a grey jacket. There was a small green clover embroidered on the breast of the jacket.

**“YES. YOU AND SEVEN OF YOUR FELLOW CLONE SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT HERE FOR TESTING.”**

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wolffe demanded. “Who are you?”

A light in front of him suddenly switched on, illuminating a small box in the center of the room.

**“PLEASE OPEN THE BOX, COMMANDER.”**

Cautiously, Wolffe stepped towards the box. It looked innocent enough, a small box no bigger than a datapad, held closed with a single latch. Wolffe popped the latch open, carefully opening the box. Inside was a flashlight, a long thin rod that reminded Wolffe of the batons the Coruscant Guard carried, and –

“What the kriff?” He muttered, setting the other two objects aside to gingerly inspect the third item in the box. It looked like a flower, though it was different than any flower Wolffe had ever seen. It looked real and fragile to the touch, but when Wolffe picked it up, it felt sturdy and solid, like a rock in his palm.

“What is this?” He asked, looking up to the screen.

**“THAT, COMMANDER, IS A CORPSE FLOWER. A FIGURINE OF ONE, AT LEAST.”**

“What do I do with it?” Wolffe asked again. Even though there was a mask on Clover’s face, he seemed to be smirking at Wolffe when he answered.

**“THAT CORPSE FLOWER REPRESENTS SOMEONE ELSE IN THIS EXPERIMENT. JUST AS YOU HAVE A CODENAME OF A FLOWER, SO DO THE OTHER SEVEN PEOPLE IN THIS EXPERIMENT. THAT FLOWER REPRESENTS SOMEONE CLOSE TO YOU. THEIR LIFE IS NOW, QUITE LITERALLY, IN YOUR HANDS.”**

There was a brief pause as the words settled over Wolffe, and Clover continued.

**“IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THAT FLOWER IN YOUR HANDS, THE PERSON WHO’S LIFE IT REPRESENTS WILL DIE.”**

Another long pause, Wolffe inhaling deeply.

**“YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO FIND YOUR OWN FLOWER, TAKE IT TO THE ALTAR IN THE CENTER OF THIS PRISON, AND MAKE YOUR ESCAPE.”**

“What’s my codename?” Wolffe asked. “And how do I know who this,” He gestured helplessly to the corpse flower in his hands. “This _thing,_ belongs to?”

**“I CAN’T ANSWER THAT FOR YOU, COMMANDER. THAT’S SOMETHING YOU MUST FIGURE OUT ON YOUR OWN.”**

Wolffe grit his teeth, glancing back down at the flower in his palm, then back up to the screen. “Why us? Why pick a bunch of clones?”

Clover was _definitely_ grinning now.

**“I ALREADY TOLD YOU, COMMANDER. THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT. YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO ESCAPE.”**

The screen suddenly went dark, and a door Wolffe hadn’t noticed before ominously swung open. Frowning, Wolffe knelt down, picking up the flashlight and the rod, carefully tucking the flower into his jacket pocket, making sure it was secure before setting off into the unknown.

~

As Commander Wolffe stepped through the doorway, Fives opened his eyes, squinting against the harsh white light around him. There was a muffled noise in his ear, and a dark shadow crossed his field of vision.

“Fives?” the voice sounded like it was coming from miles away. “Fives! HEY! Open your eyes, brother!”

Fives blinked again, and the shadow in front of him finally began to take a familiar shape.

“Ugh… Jesse? That you?” Fives asked sluggishly. Jesse nodded vigorously, and if Fives didn’t know any better, he would’ve said the other man looked downright terrified.  

“Yeah, it’s me. Hold on, I’ve almost got the rope off you.”

Fives blinked and glanced down, his foggy memory slowly starting to catch up to him. His wrists were bound, and so were his feet. Jesse was clasping a sharp rock in one of his fists, furiously sawing away at the rope around Fives’s ankles, the frayed fragments from other layers of rope still clinging to Fives’s wrists.

“Where the kriff are we?” Fives mumbled, sitting up a little. Jesse grunted as he got the last of the rope off, then helped Fives to his feet.

“Dunno. Kind of reminds me of the White Rooms, back on Kamino.” Jesse answered quietly, gesturing to the eerie white walls around them. “Remember when we were cadets, and they’d take us into the rooms one by one and grill us for hours, trying to narrow down officer candidates?”

Fives grimaced, brushing off the ropes around his wrists and walking the perimeter of the room, closely inspecting the walls.

“What the hell?” he muttered.

Jesse looked around, trailing a few feet behind Fives, hesitant to approach the walls.

“D’you think the Seps got us?” Jesse asked. Fives didn’t answer right away, instead glancing down at his grey jacket and pants.

“When did we get these?” He asked.

“No idea. I woke up in mine, and you were wearing yours too.”

Fives inspected the jacket, noticing a small green clover embroidered on it, and then saw a small grey box sitting a few feet away, half-camouflaged against the rest of the white room.

“What’s that?” Fives murmured, moving towards it. Jesse turned, nodding at the box.

“It was there when I woke up. I wanted to wait for you before I opened it.” He answered.

Fives stepped towards it, carefully removing the lid.

“Oh, Force.” Jesse hissed.

Inside the box were two flowers, one with small yellow petals forming the flower into a bucket shape, and the other a very deep black. In between the flowers was a long knife with a serrated blade.

“What do you think these are for?” Jesse asked, reaching for the yellow flower. As soon as he touched it, he yanked his hand back. “Skrag!” He cried, shaking his fingers. “It burned me!”

Fives glanced at the flowers, then cautiously reached for the yellow one. It was cool to the touch, and didn’t feel quite like a flower at all.

“Maybe you’re supposed to get that one.” Fives said, pointing at the ominous black flower. Jesse looked at it skeptically, then quickly tapped it with his index finger a few times, testing it out. When nothing happened, he lifted it out of the box, holding it in his palm.

“What are these for?” Jesse repeated.

**“THEY ARE THE REASON YOU’RE HERE, CT-5597.”**

Jesse jumped, and Fives lifted his head, quickly grabbing the knife out of the box.

**“THERE’S NO NEED FOR THAT, COMMANDER.”**

Fives held one arm out towards Jesse, beckoning his brother closer. “Stay close to me.” he murmured to the other soldier. “Who are you?” He called, louder. A screen suddenly popped to life on one of the far walls, and a man dressed in all black, goggles over his eyes, began to speak.

**“MY NAME IS CLOVER. I’M THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING YOU ALL HERE TODAY.”**

“Why?”

**“THE TWO OF YOU, AND SIX OF YOUR FRIENDS HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS VERY SPECIAL SOCIAL EXPERIMENT ON THE MANUFACTURED MIND, THE MIND OF A CLONE TROOPER. YOU ARE IN A RACE, COMMANDER.”**

Fives grit his teeth, and before he could ask another question, the man continued.

**“THAT FLOWER YOU SO CARELESSLY TUCKED INTO YOUR POCKET, COMMANDER. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?”**

Fives took it out, glancing down at it again. “No.” he finally answered. The figure cocked his head to the side, addressing Jesse.

**“AND YOU, CT-5597?”**

“It’s… It’s a snapdragon.” Jesse finally answered, his voice shaking slightly. “I saw them once… in Senator Amidala’s office. Skywalker had me on guard duty.”

**“VERY GOOD. YOUR MEMORY SERVES YOU WELL, CT-5597. NOW TELL ME, WHAT FLOWER ARE YOU HOLDING RIGHT NOW?”**

Jesse hesitated. "I... I can't be certain, but I think it's a black iris.”

**“WELL DONE! THOSE FLOWERS REPRESENTS SOMEONE ELSE IN THIS EXPERIMENT. JUST AS YOU HAVE A CODENAME OF A FLOWER, SO DO THE OTHER SIX PEOPLE IN THIS EXPERIMENT. THEIR LIVES ARE NOW IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND… AND YOU SHOULD BE WARNED, IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THAT FLOWER, THE PERSON WHO IT REPRESENTS WILL DIE.”**

“Wh… What?” Fives sputtered. “The hell kind of game is this?!”

**“THIS IS A DEADLY LITTLE GAME, COMMANDER. YOU MUST FIND YOUR OWN FLOWER, LEST SOMEONE ELSE DESTROYS IT, AND YOU MUST ENSURE ITS SAFE RETURN TO THE PEDESTAL IN THE CORE OF THE LABYRINTH. THE JOURNEY WILL NOT BE EASY, LITTLE FLOWERS. MANY TRIALS AND CHALLENGES AWAIT YOU ON YOUR QUEST, EAGER TO TEST THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND SEE TO JUST WHAT LENGTH SOMEONE WILL GO TO SURVIVE…”**

The walls suddenly parted, beckoning Fives and Jesse down a long, dark hallway.

**“RUN ALONG NOW, LITTLE FLOWERS. YOU HAVE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO ESCAPE… AND BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TRUST IN THE LABYRINTH, THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cody, Rex, and Bly are up next... 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments! See you in the next update!
> 
> *UPDATE AS OF 4-3-2018* I noticed a pretty major error in the section with Fives and Jesse. Initially I had them both discover a lotus and a sunflower in their box. That's not what they're supposed to have, so it's been changed to Jesse having a Black Iris, and Fives having a Snapdragon. Sorry for the confusion!


	4. The Game Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a mistake in the last chapter - Fives and Jesse should have found a Snapdragon and a Black Iris in their box, respectively. It should be fixed now, sorry for any confusion!
> 
> (Dedicating this chapter to @CodyIsMyBoi, they know why. XD )

Cody shifted his weight experimentally, biting back a yelp of pain when white hot agony shot up his arm again. His shoulder was dislocated, at the very least, maybe even broken.

The Commander had awoken lying on the ground in a dark room, dressed in all-grey clothes he didn’t recognize, disoriented and completely alone. His arm hurt worse than anything he’d ever experienced before, even more than when he’d gotten his scar. A few feet in front of him sat a metal box that reminded him of a miniature ammo crate. Inside had been several lengths of cloth, out of which Cody fastened a makeshift sling for his arm, a pair of wrist binders, along with the release key, and a flower.

The flower was the first thing to capture Cody’s attention in the box. It was a brilliant magenta, the intensity of the color juxtaposed with the dark room and grey box made Cody want to avert his eyes at first glance. It’s curved, slender petals fanned out from the center of the flower, and Cody reached for them delicately, shocked when they felt sturdy in his fingertips.

Then the voice had begun, and the man who called himself Clover appeared on the screen.

Cody shook away memories of that, deliberately shifting his arm, painfully shaking him back into focus. He felt like he’d been wandering the darkened halls for ages, and it seemed like the paths were just taking him in circles. When Clover had introduced himself to Cody, he’d told him that he was one of eight others trapped in – whatever this place was. Cody was still holding onto the shred of hope that he would maybe stumble across another living being in this place.

He was exhausted, arm still shouting agony at him like nine hells. He needed to keep moving. As long as he was on the move, he’d be alright.

He thought about Obi-Wan, wondered if the other man had noticed his disappearance yet. He needed to keep moving. Was Obi-Wan even looking for him?

Will he ever see his Jedi again?

_Keep moving._

~

“Where do you s’pose those go?”

Bly’s curious voice resonated very close to Rex’s shoulder, and Rex shrugged, eyeballing the staircase apprehensively.

“Only one way to find out.” He muttered. He glanced over his shoulder at Bly. The other man had been knocked unconscious before being tied to a chair across from Rex in a dark room, the blood evidence still caked over a large gash across his forehead.

“Want me to go first?” Rex offered. “With that head of yours, I don’t want you taking a spill-.”

“Don’t give me that _osik_.” Bly snapped back, jerking his head sharply towards the stairs. “I’ve been banged up worse than this.” He nudged past Rex, one hand wrapped tightly around the miniature holo-projector. It was missing a data-chip, the item useless without something to project. Rex had said as much when Bly insisted on carrying it with them. “We’re supposed to bring it with us.” Bly had argued. “I know it.” Rex’s brain had still been foggy from the drugs he’d been given, and he didn’t have it in him to protest much past that.

Bly led the way cautiously down the stairs, deliberately placing one sure foot in front of the other to make sure he didn’t fall, and Rex watched carefully, noting the outline of Bly’s flower in his pocket.

The two men had very quickly determined that Bly’s flower had been a sunflower, though neither one of them understood what it was for. Rex’s own flower was a very bright shade of pink, with pointed petals fanning out from the center. He thought the flower looked familiar, but neither he nor Bly could come up with its name.

“Who else do you think is in here?” Bly asked suddenly. Rex snapped out of his reverie.

“What do you mean?” He questioned.

“That guy, Clover,” Bly continued. “He said there were more of us. More clones, besides you and me.” He stumbled slightly, drawing a sharp breath before catching himself. “Who else do you think they brought?”

“Dunno. More officers, probably.” Rex growled. “If this is the Seps, they’d want officers.”

“D’you think it’s the Separatists?” Bly paused, glancing back at Rex.

“Who else would it be?”

Bly didn’t answer that, instead focusing back on making his way down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, they found the hallway they’d been lead into was entirely pitch black. Bly hummed under his breath.

“Any ideas?” He asked.

“Find a wall,” Rex suggested, moving to Bly’s left and groping blindly in the dark. “Keep your hands on the wall as you walk, so we know where we are.”

Bly moved away from Rex, also blindly reaching around for a wall. “I’ve got a wall over here.” He called from the right side of the hallway.

“Me too.” Rex called back. “Alright, move slowly. Let me know if anything changes.”

“Copy.” Bly answered, and the two of them began to slowly move through the dark hall, fingers ghosting along the walls as a guide. After only a few feet, Rex’s fingers hit dead air.

“I’m out of wall.” He reported. “There’s a left-hand turn here.”

The answering silence made the hairs on the back of Rex’s neck stand up. “Bly?”

No response, and Rex spoke louder. “Bly!”

Again, he was met with silence, and Rex unleashed a furious string of curses. Karking _di’kut_ , what was he thinking, letting Bly wander off in the dark with a head injury. He’d be lucky if he didn’t trip over his unconscious body in this darkness.

“Sithspit, Bly _answer me_!”

**“HELLO CAPTAIN.”**

The familiar masked face of Clover illuminated from behind him, and Rex spun around to face him.

**“ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR FIRST LITTLE GAME?”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of short, I know. Don't worry, we're through with introductory stuff, so now the fun begins... 
> 
> I haven't forgotten Kix and Tup, I just have some very special plans for them that are yet to come. >:3


	5. Clone Jedi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update Day! Wolffe, Fives, and Jesse are back, along with some other familiar faces.

Wolffe gripped the rod tightly in his hand, shining the flashlight around in the other. The halls were completely featureless, no doors, windows, lights, anything to indicate where he could be. His footfalls echoed ominously down the length of the empty hall, and a shiver involuntarily crept up his spine. He cast the light in the upper corners where the wall met the ceiling, expecting to see cameras mounted there, tracking his progress. He never found any, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.

He pressed onward, and at long last saw his light reflect back at him off something at the end of the hallway. At first, he was relieved, only to feel immediately defeated when he realized he was coming up on not an exit, but a dead end.

_Hang on…_

He stopped short, apprehensively squinting at the distant blur of letters on the wall. From this distance, he couldn’t make out what it was. He took a few slow steps forward, still carefully maintaining the angle of his light to cover as much area as he could. Wolffe drew a long, slow breath, his eyes finally settling on the word “FRENZY” written in red on the wall, the all-too-familiar metallic scent of blood filling his nostrils.

Wolffe swiped a hand across the bottom of the letter F. The blood was tacky, fresh. He suppressed a shudder and wiped his fingers off.

_“Good soldiers follow orders.”_

Wolffe gasped, lurching forward as his vision blurred, the hallway swirling dizzily around him.

_“Good soldiers follow orders.”_

_They shot down Plo’s ship. Their own General, shot down like he was nothing more than a vulture droid. Wolffe tried to scream, to cry out, to beg his men to stop, stop, this is our General, STOP-!_

_He was the one pulling the trigger, he couldn’t stop. Little gods, he couldn’t stop, somebody stop him, help him, save the General, save-._

“Plo!”

Wolffe collapsed in the hallway, on his hands and knees, shoulders shaking as he drew fast, quivering breaths. He didn’t even register the wall in front of him had changed, the word fading away into the bricks.

**“HELLO COMMANDER.”**

Clover’s voice rang out through the hall, and Wolffe lifted his head, moving into a crouch.

“What do you want?!” Wolffe shouted. The wall in front of him steadily began to move, parting at the center to reveal a glass barrier, and behind the barrier, a familiar figure sat in a chair. His face was bruised and battered, wrists bleeding from where the rope binding him to the arms of the chair held him down. There was a gag in his mouth, but his brow was furrowed in determination. Horror settled in the pit of Wolffe’s stomach.

“Kix…”

The 501st medic met his gaze, struggled against his bindings.

**“IN TWO MINUTES, THIS DIVIDER WILL LIFT, ALLOWING YOU TO ENTER THE AREA YOUR FELLOW SOLDIER IS BEING KEPT IN. ONCE THE DIVIDER LIFTS, YOU WILL HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO FREE HIM BEFORE THE BLADES IN HIS CHAIR ARE ACTIVATED, SEVERING HIS HANDS AND FEET FROM HIS BODY.”**

A dark chuckle.

**“BETTER HURRY, COMMANDER. WHAT USE DOES YOUR REPUBLIC HAVE FOR A SOLDIER WITHOUT HANDS TO HEAL, OR EVEN FEET TO WALK?”**

Kix held Wolffe’s gaze, eyes fearless, teeth bared around the gag. Wolffe flexed his fists.

“I’m coming for you, brother.” Wolffe promised, not even sure if Kix could hear him. “Just hang on.”

Slowly but surely, the barrier began to rise.

~

“Snapdragon, and Black Iris…” Jesse muttered, appraising his flower quietly as they walked. “There’s eight of us, Clover said… each of us have a flower representing who we are…” He held up the black iris. “Any guesses?”

“No idea.” Fives hissed back, gripping the serrated blade in one hand, and holding the snapdragon in the other.

“Think any other brothers we know are in here?” Jesse asked softly. Fives hesitated.

“Tup, I think.” Fives answered finally. “I was looking for him, when I was… taken. They probably got him a bit before me.” He looked over at Jesse. “Speaking of which, how’d they pick you up?”

“Kix and I were coming back to the barracks from 79s.” Jesse recounted. “We’d both been drinking, but not _nearly_ enough to lose function. As we were walking, Kix just suddenly stumbled and collapsed. I dropped down to help him, thinking maybe somebody slipped him something in 79s.” He shuddered. “Soon as I had touched him, somebody came up behind me, hit me in the back of the head. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in that karking room, and you’re tied up and unconscious next to me.”

He was quiet a few moments before continuing. “Guess that means they’ve got Kix in here somewhere too.”

Fives put a hand on the other man’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “We’ll find him, _vod.”_ He turned back to the hallway, continuing. “So, you and me, most likely Tup and Kix too. That’s four…” Fives mused.

“They’re all 501st boys.” Jesse commented. “Think maybe whoever did this nabbed all eight of us from the 501st?”

“Clover said there were eight of us in here, and if we’re right then at least half the hostages are 501st.” He drew a sharp breath. “Rex.”

“Think they got the Captain too?” Jesse questioned anxiously.

“I was with him, before I went looking for Tup.” Fives whispered softly. “Shit… I should’ve warned him, I had my commlink, before they grabbed me, I could’ve sent him a kriffin’ message.”

“Don’t start that, brother.” Jesse warned. “If the Captain’s here, we’ll find him. I’m sure the _di’kut_ has already found his way out of here by now.” He smirked sidelong at Fives. “He’s smarter than you are.”

“I’m cleverer.” Fives shot back, a smile returning to his voice. Red lights suddenly flashed overhead, brining Fives and Jesse up short, stopping dead in their tracks as Clover’s voice echoed through the narrow chamber.

**“SOMETHING’S COMING, LITTLE ONES.”**

“Get behind me!” Fives shouted, brandishing the knife in front of him. A loud, shrill, animal shriek echoed from down the hall, and Fives and Jesse both instinctually covered their ears.

**“WATCH OUT FOR YOUR FLOWERS… I’D HATE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR FRIENDS IF THEY BECOME DAMAGED.”**

Jesse wasted no time in securing his black Iris carefully in his shirt pocket, Fives hastily doing the same with his snapdragon as something large and mean-looking rounded the corner. It was large, twice the size of Fives and Jesse, four eyes glowing in the darkness, rows and rows of sharp white fangs catching the ethereal glow of the red lights. It snarled at them again, claws tapping along the floor as it crouched, rat-like tail curling behind it.

“Oh, kriff,” Jesse swore softly. “It’s a karking Nexu.”

The Nexu roared, dropping its head and charging.

“Go, go, go!” Fives shouted, about-facing and shoving Jesse down the hall in the direction they’d just come from. They’d only made it a few feet before the Nexu caught up to them, leaping on Fives from behind, knocking the knife from his hands.

Fives rolled over, gritting his teeth and threw his hands up, holding the beast’s snapping jaw away from his face. “Jesse!”

Jesse threw himself on top of the Nexu, grabbing it around the neck and forcing it back away from Fives. The Nexu howled, furiously shaking itself back and forth, trying to force Jesse off, but Jesse held his ground, wrapping his arms around the creature in a headlock, digging his heels into its ribs to hold himself in place.

Fives scrambled back to his feet, snatching up the knife and sprinting over to where Jesse held the Nexu at bay.

“Hold it still!” Fives shouted, lifting the knife. The creature backed up, swiping one massive paw at Fives.

“Easy – for you – to say!” Jesse grunted, his grip slipping slightly when the Nexu reared up, narrowly missing Fives with one of its razor-sharp claws. The Nexu recognized the falter in Jesse’s grip, and reared up a second time, this time kicking its back legs up in the air, effectively flinging Jesse halfway across the hall. He landed roughly against the wall before crumpling to the floor, groaning softly. The Nexu turned on Fives, again, and he rolled his shoulders back.

“Here, kitty, kitty.” Fives growled. The Nexu lunged, Fives rolling sideways and catching it in the shoulder with his knife. The monster yowled in pain, swiping at the knife buried in its shoulder before finally knocking it out, sending it skirting off towards Jesse.

“Firefek.” Fives swore again. The Nexu rounded on Fives yet again, and the ARC trooper ducked around it, making a break for the knife again. Jesse stirred, starting to sit up right as Fives picked up the blade again. “Need you back, Jesse, snap out of it!”

He swiped the knife at the Nexu again, but it was quicker this time, swinging its paw low instead of high, knocking Fives’s legs out from under him. The knife clattered out of his hand, arms flailing overhead, and the Nexu reared up, jaw snapping, claws flying, diving down towards Fives’s exposed torso-.

Blue light filled Fives’s vision, the unmistakable hum of a lightsaber swishing through the air, gliding effortlessly through the Nexu’s throat, severing its head cleanly from its body. The head rolled away, the body going rigid for a split second before slumping down on top of Fives, knocking the wind out of him. The trooper gasped, shoving the Nexu’s body off him before finally looking up at his savior, the lightsaber casting a ghostly glow across his wild face.

His hair was out of his bun, matted, tangled black tresses framing his face. His eyes were wild, the familiar teardrop tattoo standing out against his harrowed expression.

Tup pushed some air out between his teeth, sheathing the lightsaber and pushing his hair out of his face.

“Hello, boys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tup's got a lightsaber! Who's is it? 
> 
> Your comments give me life, thank you so much for reading/supporting this story so far!


	6. Walk Through Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *MIND THE TAGS*
> 
> Trigger Warning - There's some severe burn trauma in Rex and Bly's section and details of graphic burn injuries. 
> 
> Mentions of Plo/Wolffe in Wolffe and Kix's section. Enjoy!

A glass wall had come down in the center of the hallway, dividing it in two. On one side of the wall, Rex could clearly see Bly, banging on the glass, trying to get out. His half of the hallway was rapidly filling with water, and it was already up around Bly’s ankles. In front of Rex was what looked like a metal box, an alarmingly large lock on the outside of the box.

**“YOUR FIRST TEST, CAPTAIN. HOW MUCH ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE TO SAVE THE LIFE OF ANOTHER?”**

Rex looked back on Bly’s half of the room again. The water was up to his knees now.

**“YOUR FELLOW SOLDIER IS ENCASED IN A WATER TRAP. THE WATER WILL CONTINUE TO FLOOD THE TRAP UNTIL IT REACHES THE CEILING, DROWNING HIM. YOU CAN SAVE HIM, IF YOU’RE QUICK ENOUGH.”**

“What do I do?” Rex demanded, shouting at the figure on the screen. _“Tell me what to do!”_

**“THAT BOX IN FRONT OF YOU IS A FURNACE. ONCE YOU STEP INSIDE, THE DOORS WILL LOCK BEHIND YOU, AND IT WILL BEGIN TO HEAT UP. THE HOTTER IT GETS, THE FASTER THE WATER WILL DRAIN FROM YOUR COMPANION’S HALF OF THE ROOM.”**

The water was climbing up Bly’s stomach now.

**“ONCE THE WATER IS COMPLETELY DRAINED FROM THE TRAP, THE GLASS WILL LIFT, AND YOUR FRIEND WILL BE ABLE TO OPEN THE FURNACE FROM THE OTHER SIDE, FREEING YOU. THE QUESTION FOR YOU IS THIS, CAPTAIN: DO YOU PUT YOURSELF THROUGH UNSPEAKABLE AGONY TO SAVE THE LIFE OF ANOTHER, OR DO YOU LET HIM DROWN, AND CONTINUE ON YOUR JOURNEY UNSCATHED?”**

“I’ll do it.” Rex answered without hesitation, bolting towards the furnace and tugging on the handle. He threw another glance at Bly – the water was up to his neck, and he was beginning to tread water – before turning back to Clover. “Open the fucking door!”

**“INTERESTING CHOICE.”**

The door opened, and Rex briskly stepped inside.

**“GOOD LUCK, CAPTAIN.”**

The door slammed shut with some finality, and Rex sucked in a deep, shaky breath. The furnace was about the size of one of the lockers back on Kamino, his broad shoulders barely brushing against the metal walls. He angled his body so his shoulders were diagonal, edge to edge, that way no part of his body was touching the metal encasement. He heard the water stop across the hall, and the furnace began to heat itself up.

“Not too bad.” Rex muttered to himself as the air quickly became hot and stuffy. “Not too bad. No worse than Tattooine.”

Heat radiated off the walls, and Rex felt sweat dripping down his face, his spine. It was getting a little difficult to breathe. He kept his arms pinned to his side, closed his eyes, focused on taking slow, measured breaths, mentally assembling and reassembling his DC-17.

Fuck, it was _hot._ He risked opening one eye to glance down at himself. The skin that wasn’t covered by the grey clothing Clover had provided for him was turning a very angry red. Rex drew another breath, focusing on anything but the feeling of his body being cooked alive.

“Kriff…” he muttered, his breathing slipping out of his battle cadence and instead to a slightly panicked wheeze. “Bly!”

No answer. The water must not have drained yet. He shifted his feet, heard the sizzle of the rubber being melted off the soles of his shoes.

The air burned his lungs, seared his throat. He couldn’t open his eyes anymore, fearful of the moisture being boiled right out of them. He could feel his jacket being singed. Little gods, the _smell._ The smell of his hair being burnt, his skin blistering. Briefly, he thought of the flower tucked into his pocket, wondered whose life it belonged to and if that person would burn up with the flower. Kriff, he should’ve thought of that, should’ve left the karking thing outside of the furnace, Bly could’ve grabbed it.

The thought was choked off by the feeling of his pantleg catching fire.

Smoke. Fire. He was on fire. Rex couldn’t breathe. Kriff, he _couldn’t breathe._

_“Rex!”_

The door flew open, and Rex stumbled backwards out of the box, collapsing onto the cool floor, felt Bly’s wet hands smacking against the fire on his pantleg, trying to smother it. Cool air kissed his blistered skin, water droplets from Bly’s frantic figure above him hitting his wounds like little bullets of relief. His lungs were still burning, the juxtaposition of the stale hallway air that seemed almost frigid in comparison to the furnace heat made his throat go dry. Rex rolled over, the pain so monumental that all he could do was retch against the floor, barely able to support his own weight. He recovered enough to push himself slightly off the floor. He couldn’t speak, just clawed feebly at his jacket pocket with his blistered fingers.

“What is it?” Bly asked hurriedly. “Sithspit, Rex, your _hands-.”_

Rex didn’t answer, kept fumbling for the pocket until Bly seemed to realize what he wanted and opened it for him, holding it open so Rex could slip his damaged fingers inside, withdrawing the flower.

It was undamaged, sitting prettily in the palm of his hand, beautiful, cold, dangerous.

~

Wolffe rolled under the divider before it had even fully lifted, jumping quickly to his feet and freeing the gag from Kix’s mouth.

“Behind me,” the other trooper wasted no time. “A control panel, I think. I heard them hook it up.”

Wolffe circled around behind the chair. Sure enough, there was a grey box, an ominous message painted on the outside:

_I begin eternity, And end space, At the end of time, And in every place, Last in life, Second to death, Never alone, Found in your breath, Contained by earth, Water and flame, My grandeur so awesome, Wind dare not tame, Not in your mind, Am in your dreams, Vacant to Kings, Present to Queens._

“Kriff, what is this?” Wolffe shouted.

“What?” Kix asked.

“There’s some… I don’t know, it’s a riddle, I think.” Wolffe read the message out loud to Kix.

“Don’t worry about that right now, open the panel.”

Wolffe did as he was told, prying open the control panel and huffing out a breath of air. “Firefek, Kix. It’s a keypad. Fekking thing needs a password to unlock. We’ve got to get the solution to this.”

Kix swore heatedly under his breath, then shook his head, the calm, level-headedness of a medic taking over.

“Alright, nobody panic,” He murmured, more to himself than to Wolffe. “Read it to me again, slowly.”

Wolffe repeated the riddle, scanning over the words quickly as he read it.

“Okay… alright.” Kix murmured, closing his eyes. “Begin eternity… end space… The Force? Some kind of Jedi bantha shit?”

“No that – that doesn’t make sense… vacant to kings…” Wolffe whispered.

“Try it.” Kix said, wiggling around his restraints.

“We don’t know how many chances we get!” Wolffe snapped back.

“Well you only have fifteen minutes, less than that now!” Kix shouted back. “You’re the fekkin’ Wolfpack Commander, _think!”_

Wolffe felt his chest tighten. Kix was going to die right here in front of him if he couldn’t come up with an answer. His blood would be on his hands. He couldn’t save him. He couldn’t save him.

_“I couldn’t save them!”_

He jolted abruptly, looking back up at Kix. The calm had begun to seep out of his features, and Wolffe watched helplessly as the turmoil played out on his face.

“Look, just -.” He winced, looking back towards the screen where Clover continued to intently watch the scene play out. “Look, I won’t – I won’t blame you, brother. If we screw this up, and I can’t get out in time, it’s alright. I won’t blame you.”

_“I couldn’t save them!”_

_“You can’t do this to yourself.”_

_“I could have done more, I could have-.”_

“Wolffe?”

_“I couldn’t save them!”_

_Wolffe thought he had moved past Abregado, thought he had recovered. Yet here he was, two weeks after the fact, curled into a ball at the foot of his bunk, arms wrapped around his knees and sniffling like a snot-nosed cadet. So many of his men, his brothers… gone._

_“You can’t do this to yourself.” Plo soothed, gently sliding his ritual claws along his commander’s back in soothing circles._

_“I could have done more, I could have-.”_

_“Wolffe,” Plo’s voice was forceful, commanding. “Nobody could have prevented what happened at Abregado. It’s a miracle the four of us made it out at all.”_

_Wolffe’s breath hitched, thinking about Sinker and Boost, the only other two surviving brothers. Everyone else was -._

_“Wolffe?”_

_He was shaking, trembling, tears dribbling down his chin. What kind of soldier was he?_

_“Sorry sir,” he mumbled, wiping his face with the sleeve of his blacks. “Shouldn’t have to see me like this.”_

_“Would it help, perhaps, if I taught you to quiet your mind?” Plo asked gently._

_“S’that?”_

_“Meditation,” Plo answered patiently. “Jedi use it to become more in tune with the Force. It… it may help you in dealing with this loss.”_

Mediate. Wolffe remembered the hours he’d spent with his general cross-legged on mats in Plo’s quarters, eyes closed, not a sound between them.

He closed his eyes now, focusing only on the words to the riddle rattling around in his brain.

“I begin eternity… end space… at the end of time, in every place…” Wolffe whispered the words to himself, tuning out Kix’s voice, ignoring the time, ignoring Clover, focused only on the words.

“Last in life, second to death, never alone, found in your breath…”

_Last in life… second… death…_

Wolffe grit his teeth. _Think!_

_“Concentrate.”_

“Vacant to kings.” He sucked in a sharp breath. “Present to queens. Queens. Second in death. Last in life. Kriff. Kriff, it’s the letters.”

“What?” Kix asked, trying to wriggle around to look over his shoulders.

“It’s E.” Wolffe answered breathlessly. “It’s the letter E.”

He hurriedly pressed E on the keypad. Waited.

**“INTERESTING. WELL DONE, COMMANDER.”**

Kix’s restraints popped free, and Wolffe slumped to his knees, relief like ice in his core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rex is pretty badly injured at this point... I haven't forgotten Cody, he comes in again later on.
> 
> Your comments on this fic give me life. Keep them coming!!


	7. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update Day!!! Mind the rating/tag changes. There's Codywan smut in this chapter, you were warned.

“Tup!”

Fives scrambled to his feet, embraced the other trooper. “Thank the little gods you’re alright.”

Tup chuckled. “You better thank _me,_ otherwise you’d be bantha fodder right now.”

“Speaking of which,” Fives reached for the lightsaber. “Where the hell did you get _that_?”

Tup held up the lightsaber, rolled it over in his palm. “It was in my box, along with this.”

He reached into his pocket and held out a flower. It almost looked like two flowers in one, several star-shaped red petals with smaller yellow blossoms seated in the center.

“It’s pretty.” Fives commented softly, tilting his head at the flower. “Do you know what it is?”

Tup shrugged. “No idea, I was kind of hoping you might know.” He nodded at Fives, pushing his hair out of his face again. “What about you, did you get one?”

“We both did!”

Both troopers turned as Jesse heaved himself off the floor. “I’m fine, by the way.” He swayed slightly when he stood, shook his head, and stalked towards the pair of them. “How’d you get here Tup?”

“I was in the mess hall.” Tup recounted as Fives held out a hand to steady Jesse. “It was me and some other brother, except he had his helmet on, couldn’t see his face?”

“Colors?” Fives prompted. Tup shook his head.

“Shiny.” He clarified. “Soon as I sat down, took a bite, next thing I know my head’s spinning and I’m on the floor. Guess they drugged my food or something. Woke up with my hands and feet tied together in some dark room, a box sitting in front of me.” He shuddered involuntarily. “Then that guy – Clover – started talking.” He looked up at Fives. “What the hell is going on here?”

“No idea.” Fives whispered. “At least we found you.”

“Did you two find each other in this mess?”

“No, Fives and I woke up in the same room.” Jesse answered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his flower. “This is a black iris.” He told Tup. “Fives has a snapdragon. Does that mean anything to you?”

Tup shook his head. “No, just that Clover said we’re supposed to find our matching flowers if we want to get out.” He looked back to Fives. “He said there were eight of us in here. Have you found anyone else?”

“No, it’s been just me and Jesse so far. Have you?”

Tup shook his head, biting his lower lip. Jesse looked between the two of them, pocketed his flower again.

“We’d better keep moving.” He growled. “Sooner we find the others, the sooner we get out of here.” He started off in the direction Tup had came from. Fives nodded in agreement, picking his knife back up off the ground from where the Nexu had knocked it and followed Jesse down the hall.

“Any idea who else this guy grabbed?” Tup asked, falling into step with Fives.

“We think Kix and Rex, too.” Fives answered grimly. “We think it’s all clones from the 501st.”

Tup furrowed his brow, considering this. Fives could practically see the gears turning in the other man’s head.

“What is it?”

“The lightsaber,” he held it up for Fives to see. “It’s not General Skywalker’s, or Commander Tano’s.”

“So?”

“So, if it was all 501st soldiers, why not give us one of our C.O.’s lightsabers?” Tup asked.

“How do you even know that’s a Jedi’s lightsaber?” Fives countered. “For all you know, we’re dealing with Grievous, and that’s one of his.”

Tup shook his head, appraising the lightsaber again. “It’s not one of his. It’s familiar. I’ve seen this before… I just… I don’t know who it could belong to.”

A dark thought wormed its way into Fives’s head, and he felt his stomach turn.

“D’you think – is it one of Krell’s?”

Tup stopped dead in his tracks, held the lightsaber in his hands like it was a snake. Fives watched the emotions flash across the trooper’s face. Grief, anger, suffering…

“No.” he finally answered, eerily calm as he brushed past Fives and kept walking. “He killed my brothers with that lightsaber. He tried to kill _me_ with that lightsaber. This isn’t his,”

He squared his shoulders, kept moving.

“I’d never forget that blade.”

~

Cody stumbled through the halls, the pain in his arm reduced to a dull throb. His head was spinning, like he’d been drugged.

_“Cody.”_

He shook his head, chased the voice away. Obi-Wan wasn’t there.

_“Cody.”_

He wasn’t there. He wasn’t real.

_“Cody.”_

Wasn’t-

_“Cody.”_

_The Commander stepped fully into General Kenobi’s quarters. The General lifted his head in greeting._

_“Cody,” He smiled warmly, set aside the datapad he’d been working on. “Is everything alright? I sense you are troubled about something.”_

_Cody hesitated, shifted his stance slightly._

_“Sir-.”_

_“Cody, please.” Obi-Wan interrupted gently, lifting his hand to stop him. “How many times must I tell you? I am not sir here.” He stepped around his desk, came into Cody’s space. “Never here, not with you.”_

_Cody swallowed, felt Obi-Wan’s gentle hands come up around his neck, nails scratching through his hair._

_“What is it, love?” Obi-Wan asked softly, leaning up to kiss Cody’s jaw. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”_

_He was supposed to tell Kenobi something important. What was it? Why did his arm hurt? Something was nagging the back of his brain, some quiet warning bell dinging incessantly, ricocheting in his mind. The alarm was quickly silenced by Obi-Wan’s dancing fingertips, deftly massaging into his scalp and the back of his neck as his lips traveled further upward to Cody’s mouth._

_“You’re awfully quiet.” Obi-Wan purred lightly. “Perhaps you aren’t wanting to talk at all?”_

_The General pulled back, tugging lightly on Cody’s hand and leading him back to their shared bedroom. Kriff, something wasn’t right here… he was supposed to tell Obi-Wan something very important. Something was wrong, but what was it?_

_“Cody…”_

_Obi-Wan’s mouth was on his again, hands grappling with the commander’s armor, tossing the plates aside and peeling him out of his blacks, bit by bit. Cody’s hands seemed to have a mind of their own, reaching between them to deftly untie Obi-Wan’s tunic with the skill and dexterity of well-practiced hands. Obi-Wan sighed softly as Cody’s gloved fingers exposed the skin of his abdomen, the texture of his gloves jarring against his smooth skin._

_“I want you Cody, I want you.” Obi-Wan panted, pulling Cody further toward the bed. “Do you want me?”_

_Little gods, Cody wanted. He opened his mouth to tell him so, but his throat suddenly was very, very dry, like his breath had been stolen right out of his lungs. His arm still hurt. Why did it hurt again?_

_Obi-Wan’s mouth was nipping at his exposed shoulders, beard scratching against his collarbone. He pulled the Commander down onto the bed, Cody landing on top of him with a soft grunt. Their mouths found each other again, Obi-Wan still furiously working to relieve Cody of the rest of his armor while the commander wrestled his general’s leggings off. He thought he heard fabric rip somewhere below him, but it didn’t matter._

_“Cody!”_

_That wasn’t Obi-Wan. Somebody else was calling his name. He lifted his head, pulling away from Obi-Wan for a moment, but Obi-Wan seized him by the hair, pulled him back down, crashed their lips together. He ran his hands down Obi-Wan’s slender form, his lips chasing freckles down each patch of newly exposed skin. Obi-Wan moaned, sighed out Cody’s name. Cody kissed his way back up the length of his General’s body, tried again to whisper back to him, tell him how much he loved him, cherished him, worshipped him-._

_“Cody!”_

_The voice was louder now, insistent. Cody thought it almost sounded fearful. It was distracting him, distracting him from his Jedi, pulling him away from Obi-Wan. Don’t make me leave him, I don’t want to leave him._

_There was a hand wrapped around his cock now, and Cody tried to groan. Obi-Wan’s lips were still relentlessly attacking his own, teeth nicking lips, nails scratching along his back._

_“I love you, Cody.” Obi-Wan whispered. “Don’t ever leave me.”_

_“CODY!”_

_The voice was screaming now, deafening. Obi-Wan dug his nails into Cody’s biceps, forced him to look at him. “Stay with me Cody, don’t go back. You’ll die if you go back.”_

_“CODY!”_

_“Stay with me!”_

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE, CC-2224 OPEN YOUR EYES!”

Cody gasped, his eyes flying open, the haze around his brain finally beginning to clear. His eyes were bleary, vision blurred, but he thought he could make out two figures standing a good distance away from him, a mass of blackness between them.

“Thank the little gods.” One of the figures was gasping. “Cody, Cody can you hear me?!”

He blinked again, his vision clearing slightly. One of the figures began to take shape.

“Wolffe?” He mumbled drowsily, swayed slightly. He wanted Obi-Wan, where was Obi-Wan?

“Commander, please, focus!” Another sharp voice brought him back to the present. “Don’t move, do you hear me?! Whatever you do, don’t move!”

That sounded like Kix. What was Rex’s medic doing here? What was he doing here? Where was here?

He blinked again, felt himself take a small, shuffling step towards them. Both of them began shouting at once.

“Cody stop moving!”

“Commander, _freeze_!”

He felt something creak beneath his feet, and he blinked again, raised a hand to his forehead.

“What… what’re you doing here?” He mumbled groggily. The fog was beginning to come back.

“CC-2224, _look at me now!”_

Wolffe’s commanding roar finally snapped Cody out of his reverie, and he registered the huge gap of space between him and his fellow clone troopers. The floor was just gone, a huge, black chasm in its place –

And Commander Cody was teetering right on the edge of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a storm coming, boys. 
> 
> leave me a comment, let me know what you think!


	8. Bly Treats the Captain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor descriptions of burn injuries ft. Nudity.

_“Captain.”_

_Fives was grinning at him, handsome and fearless as ever with his newly earned ARC bravado. Echo was at his side, smiling politely as Fives practically skipped into the 501 st barracks. _

_“What do you think?” Fives asked, giving an exaggerated spin so his kama billowed out around him._

_“Just like a princess.” Echo snarked from behind him. Rex chuckled._

_“Looks good on you.” He commented, adjusting Fives’s somewhat crooked pauldron._

_“Yeah, looks good now.” Echo scoffed. “Didn’t look as good half an hour ago, when he was strutting around in just the pauldron and kama.”_

_Rex lifted an eyebrow at Fives, who just grinned. Cheeky bastard._

_“Is that something you would have wanted to see, Captain?”_

_Rex opened his mouth to reply, but his words were swallowed up by something very hot in the back of his throat._

_“Captain?”_

“Captain, I need you to look at me. Can you do that? Don’t close your eyes.”

Rex’s head lolled to one side slightly, and he blinked very slowly, heavily. Bly’s voice sounded very far away, a darkened, blurry figure taking shape in front of him.

“Keep your eyes open, Rex.” Bly soothed gently. “I know it hurts, but I need you to keep it together for me, yeah?”

The pain was slowly starting to creep back into Rex’s system, and he winced, holding himself as still as possible to not agitate the burns.

“Wh’appened?” Rex slurred. Bly’s hand reached out gently to hold Rex’s chin in place, something cool and smooth rubbing over his cheeks.

“You passed out after you got out of the box.” Bly answered quietly, reaching for something next to him, smearing it on his fingertips, and returned to gently rubbing it across Rex’s face. “Thought you weren’t going to wake up for a bit, _vod_. Scared the shit out of me.”

Rex groaned slightly, tried to sit up-.

“Don’t move.” Bly chided gently, easing him back down onto the floor. “I’m no medic, but this stuff should help. You’ll feel better soon enough.”

“What is it? Where are we?” Rex mumbled back.

“Another room.” Bly answered grimly. “After you passed out, I carried you on down the hall. It seemed too dangerous to just sit there all exposed.” He squirted more of the gel onto his fingers, moving on now to Rex’s neck and bared shoulders. He realized very suddenly and somewhat self-consciously that he wasn’t clothed. He recognized the pineapple smell from the gel in Bly’s hands. _Bacta._

“I found this door.” Bly was saying. “Right in the middle of the hallway, unlocked and everything. There was nowhere else to go but through it. That’s where we are now.” He squeezed more bacta out onto his palms and worked his way down Rex’s torso and arms, slowly helping him to sit up so he could work the bacta into his back as well.

“There was another one of those boxes in the center of the room.” Bly continued. “I opened it up and there was a little tube of bacta, a couple bandages, and two canteens of water.” He chuckled humorlessly. “Guess whoever’s doing this to us still wants us to play a bit longer, otherwise they wouldn’t have given us stuff to heal you.”

“Is this room safe?” Rex asked weakly, wincing as Bly carefully worked the bacta into his blistered hands.

“Nothing here is safe.” Bly countered. “But this is as good as we’re going to get until some of your injuries heal.” He eyed Rex. “I worry about your hands, Captain.”

Rex looked down at the gnarled skin of his hands. They were badly burned, some of the flesh blackened in spots. He felt his stomach turn at the sight, looked away.

“Not to mention the risk of infection. I can apply bacta and bandages, that’s basic field training, but my knowledge on treating burns this severe is… well, next to none. Limited at best. I still can’t believe they even gave us bacta.”

“We don’t have time.” Rex grunted, tried once again to push himself to his feet. “My clothes?”

“Will you stop trying to get up and move around, you _osik_ -brained _di’kut_?” Bly snapped. “If you push yourself before you’ve at least _slightly_ healed yourself, you’ll wind up dead. Is that what you want?”

“We only have twenty-four hours, Bly.” Rex barked. “We don’t have time to sit around, now _where are my clothes?”_

“What if Fives is in here?” Bly hissed.

“Don’t.” Rex warned.

“I mean it. What if you die right here on this floor because you were too stupid to take thirty fucking minutes to recover, and because you weren’t there to save his sorry ass, Fives gets killed?”

Rex grit his teeth, the smallest movements sending cords of agony through his veins. “Fine.” He bit out, reluctantly leaning back again as Bly moved to continue applying bacta to Rex’s legs.

“Good.” Bly muttered. He jerked his head over to the left. “Your clothes are over there. You can put them back on once the bacta takes effect. We’ll leave as soon as it’s set.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People are going to start dying soon. You've been warned. Let me know what you think so far! Comments give me life.


	9. The Commander Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update Day! Thank you so much for all the comments and support, it means so much to me. It keeps this story going. Enjoy!

“Alright Commander, just…” Kix took a cautious step forward, holding his hands rigidly in the air. “Don’t panic.”

Cody was standing on a very thin pipe, extending out over the hole in the floor. He had completely frozen, keeping himself as still as possible on the length of pipe.

“You’re going to have to keep going, sir.” Kix called. “Just keep your eyes on me, right?”

“Okay,” Cody nodded slowly, taking a steadying breath. “Okay.”

“Focus on me, sir.” Kix replied calmly, then, in a lower voice. “Commander Wolffe, I need you to guide him across the pipes. Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” Wolffe straightened up, focused entirely on Cody’s feet. “Alright, Cody. Walk very carefully. Take a step forward.”

Cody nodded, glanced down-

“Don’t look down, sir!” Kix shouted suddenly. “Focus on me, Wolffe will talk you through walking.”

“Cody, there’s another pipe to your left. You’ll need to move over to that one in order to keep going.”

Cody nodded, cautiously toeing the air around him until his foot collided with the pipe, shifted his weight onto the new pipe.

“Very good, sir.” Kix praised quietly, beckoning the Commander onward. “Keep moving, sir. You’re doing fine.”

“You’ve got another step directly in front of you.” Wolffe ordered. “Step straight forward – a bit smaller of a step – that’s it.”

They continued like this for a few moments, Cody obediently taking orders, being very careful not to look down.

_“Cody.”_

Cody blinked, his face twitching.

“Commander-!” Kix could barely finish his warning before Cody swayed dangerously, his already precarious footing slipping slightly.

_“Cody, come back to me.”_

“Cody, focus!” Wolffe snapped, jerking his head towards the Commander. “Just a few more steps, brother. Just a few-.”

Cody stumbled.

So simply put those words, “Cody stumbled.” And yet it felt like a lifetime passed in the moments that followed. Cody’s right pantleg caught against the sharp edge of a metal pipe, snagging the fabric in a grip like death. His shoe skidded across the top of the pipe, his unsure footing faltering. Kix was shouting something, his urgent voice drowned out by Wolffe howling something equally panicked. Cody snapped out of his reverie, tried to right himself, but it was too late for that. The fog abandoned him, and the commander felt an eerie sense of calm, of clarity, in the fraction of a second it took for both of his feet to be secure on the pipe and another half-second it took for him to plunge headfirst towards the abyss. Cody stumbled.

He instinctually threw his arms out, grappling for leverage, something to hold onto as he pitched forward, cool air rushing past him, stomach dropping horribly as the darkness rushed up to meet him -.

And then everything stopped around him, his body jerking rigidly to a halt.

The Commander’s hands had moved on their own, grabbing hold of one of the pipes mere seconds before plunging to his death. The pipe had come loose from the force of his fall, and now dipped precariously towards the abyss, Cody clinging to one end for dear life.

“Cody!” Wolffe shouted.

“I’m alright!” Cody called back. “I’m – kriff, I’m okay.”

It was as if Death itself had heard the relief in Cody’s voice, because the pipe he was clinging to chose that moment to suddenly creak, the groan of metal bending in two deafening against the chasm. “Kriff, karkin’ sithspit, the pipe is breaking!”

“You’ve got to hoist yourself out of there!” Wolffe bellowed.

Cody grit his teeth, pulling himself up along the pipe, shimmying his way back towards the network of piping above him. The pipe gave another threatening whine, and a violent snap as another piece of the piping fell off, dropping Cody a few more feet towards the darkness.

“It’s not going to hold me much longer!” Cody yelled, freezing where he was on the pipe.

“Alright, that’s it.” Kix muttered, rolling up the sleeves of his jacket. He drew a deep breath, stepped out onto one of the pipes.

“Kix, what’re you doing?” Wolffe hissed. “Get back here!”

“The Commander is hanging on for dear life, and that pipe is going to snap any moment. Somebody’s got to pull him up.” Kix grit out, lips pulled back in a snarl as he focused intently on crossing the web of pipes to get to Cody. The pipework Cody was clinging to swayed threateningly as Kix approached. The medic dropped to his knees, wrapping his legs securely around the pipe before leaning over, reaching for Cody.

“Take my hand, sir!” Kix shouted. Cody reached for it, straining as their fingers brushed against one another. “You’re going to have to climb up a bit higher, I can almost get you!”

“Fierfek!” Cody growled, carefully inching up the pipe again, reaching for Kix’s hand.

Several things suddenly happened at once.

First, the pipe Kix was balanced on suddenly squealed, buckling nearly in two. Kix had only a moment to disengage from the pipe and skitter backwards onto another one, wrapping his arms and legs tightly around it. In the instant it took for Kix’s pipe to buckle, Cody reached for it, pulling himself onto the warped bit of metal just as the length of tubing he’d been clutching to finally broke away from the rest of the network, falling into the chasm below. Cody scrambled off Kix’s pipe, following the medic as the two of them leapt from pipe to pipe, scuttling as fast as they could back towards solid ground as the pipes began to give way all around them. Wolffe crouched at the edge, grabbing Kix by the collar and yanking him to safety just as Cody tumbled off the pipes as well, landing in a heap at Wolffe’s feet.

“Kriff… oh Kriff…”

“It’s alright brother,” Wolffe soothed, helping the shaking Commander to his feet. “You made it, you both made it. We’re all alive.”

“No,” Kix whispered suddenly, looking around frantically. “No, no! _No!_ ”

“What is it?” Wolffe asked urgently, turning towards the medic.

“My flower,” Kix whispered, his face going pale as a ghost. “It’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Kix's flower? More importantly, what happens to the person it represents?   
> Let me know what you think in the comments!


	10. Poppy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains character death. :(
> 
> Thank you so much for your continued support on this work! Your comments mean the world to me. :)

Just as Kix and Wolffe were about to begin helping Cody cross the maze of pipes, Rex and Bly stepped back out into the hallway, Rex leaning on Bly for support as they went.

His gruesome burns still littered his body, and Rex was weak from the strain of it all, but even as they walked, some of the smaller burns were beginning to heal, the bacta soothing the inflamed skin and grafting new flesh over the wounds. Rex winced slightly as his side brushed against Bly’s, a particularly nasty burn being touched in the process.

“Sorry, brother.” Bly murmured, supporting Rex’s weight as best he could while also trying not to touch him too much. “We can rest for a bit if you want?”

“We can’t.” Rex snapped back, taking another shaky step. “We have to get out of here, we have to find the others.”

“Sir, you’re no use to anybody dead.” Bly growled. “You’re going to get yourself-.”

Bly gasped suddenly, his knees buckling as he fell to the floor, pulling Rex down with him. Rex cried out in pain as he hit the floor, but his pain was forgotten in an instant as he looked over at Bly.

“Hey-!” Rex winced, tried to turn towards Bly. “Bly, what is it? What’s wrong?!”

The Commander was writhing on the floor, back arched, clawing at his throat like he was being choked. His face was turning blue, soft, desperate gasps sneaking out of his throat as he struggled.

“Bly!” Rex shouted, grabbing Bly by the shoulders. “What is it? What’s happening?!”

**“LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED TO HIS FLOWER, CAPTAIN.”**

“His flower, what-.” Rex whirled around, searching for one of the telltale screens that revealed Clover, but none of them were to be found. And yet, the voice still echoed through the halls, mingling with Bly’s death throes as he twisted in agony on the ground. Rex grit his teeth, fumbling with Bly’s pockets until he found his flower.

“It’s still here!” Rex shouted, brandishing it wildly around the room. “Leave him alone! He’s still got the karking flower, so _leave him alone_!”

**“OH, CAPTAIN. YOU NAÏVE LITTLE FOOL. IT’S NOT THE FLOWER HE’S CARRYING. I TOLD YOU FROM THE BEGINNING, YOUR LIFE IS IN SOMEONE ELSE’S HANDS.”**

A dark chuckle.

**“LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY LET SOMETHING HAPPEN TO THEIR FLOWER, AND BLY’S LIFE IS THE PRICE. FAREWELL, COMMANDER BLY.”**

“No, no wait!” Rex screamed, turning back to Bly. He grabbed the commander by the shoulders, tried to pull him to a sitting position. “Sithspit, breathe, Commander! _Breathe!”_

~

Tup walked ahead of Fives and Jesse, holding up the lightsaber as their only light source.

“So where were you two, when you were taken?” Tup asked, glancing over his shoulder at Fives and Jesse.

“I was walking back from 79s with Kix.” Jesse explained again. “Somebody drugged Kix and hit me.”

Tup tilted his head towards Fives. “And you?”

“I was in the barracks, looking for you.” Fives recalled. “Somebody came out of nowhere and tried to attack me. I almost got away, but they caught me before I could get out.”

“Did anybody else know you were gone?” Tup asked.

“Rex.” He answered quietly. “If he was safe, he would be looking for us right now.”

“But you think he’s in here?” Tup questioned. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” Fives answered reluctantly. “But if these really are all 501st troopers, it makes sense we’d have our Captain, doesn’t it?”

Tup opened his mouth to reply, but Jesse cut him off with a sharp gasp. “Look!”

The three troopers turned their heads upward. The ceiling had suddenly sloped dramatically upward, and they found themselves standing at the bottom of what appeared to be a large chasm. Far above them, they could see the outline of what looked like pipes, stretched across the distance of the gap like a makeshift bridge. The chasm walls were lined with those same pipes, most of them cut off at very sharp angles, jutting out from the wall at dangerous angles. If somebody fell, they would’ve been speared straight through. A shudder worked its way up Fives’s spine. _Did someone die here?_

But the pipes were not what Jesse was pointing to. Tup shined the lightsaber closer, and his breath caught in his throat.

Several feet above them, hanging precariously from one of the pipes, was a flower.

“Kriff.” Tup whispered, staring up at it. “D’you think that’s one of ours?”

“I don’t feel any different.” Jesse murmured, patting himself down reassuringly. “Fives?”

“Does it matter?!” He demanded, his voice rising an octave. “We have to get it!”

“How?” Tup asked, looking back up at the flower. “Looks like it’s snagged on one of the petals. Look, it’s already turning grey.”

“We have to get to it quickly then.” Fives snapped back, racing towards the chasm wall and starting to scale the pipes.

“Fives, if you fall these pipes are gonna gore you open!” Jesse protested.

“And if we don’t get that flower, whoever it represents will die.” Fives growled back, hoisting himself higher on the pipes.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Tup murmured, moving to stand underneath Fives. “Be careful, _vod!”_

Fives grunted, hauling himself higher up the pipes. He could see it more clearly now, its petals a dazzling red with a black beaded center. The pipe had caught the pipe on one of it’s petals, turning it a deathly grey. The rest of the petals were slowly following suit, the life force draining from it every second it spent on that pipe.

“I’ve almost… got it.” Fives strained, reaching his hand out towards the flower. His fingertips brushed against it, but he couldn’t quite reach it. “I can get it.”

_“Bly! Breathe Bly! Come on, you have to fight this, you have to fight it!”_

Fives gasped, gritting his teeth and stretching himself even further, his grip on the pipe he was holding slipping slightly.

“Fives, watch out!”

Tup’s warning came a beat too late, and Fives felt the pipe buckle underneath him. He slid downwards a few feet, his hand smacking against the pipe the flower had been speared on, knocking it to the ground.

“Catch it!” He screamed. Jesse lunged forward, reaching for it, reaching-.

The flower fell to the ground, turning a deep grey with a sort of last finality, before slowly, heartbreakingly slowly, crumbling away into dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One down...


	11. Echoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We say goodbye to one of our flowers, but an old friend makes a new appearance.   
> (Your comments mean so much to me, please keep them coming! THanks for all the amazing positive feedback!)

He could still see her in front of him, like he’d never left at all.

She was smiling at him, laughing at something he’d said. Kriff, that _smile._ So rarely seen in this war, and yet every time it showed itself, Bly always found himself smiling right alongside his general.

_Aayla…_

Bly whimpered softly, the only sound he could make as his throat closed.

“Bly, look at me.” Rex whispered. “You’re fine, you’re going to be fine.”

Rex whipped his head around, trying to find the source of Clover’s voice again. “Help him, dammit!” Rex screamed. “Stop this! _Stop this!”_

Fuck, his lungs burned. His throat felt like he was swallowing ash, smothered in soot, buried alive. He couldn’t draw a full breath.

“Rex.” He managed, gasping out the Captain’s name.

_“Commander.”_

_Her voice was so soft, so very kind. Aayla Secura was reaching for him, hovering just above Rex’s shoulder._

_“Come, Commander.” She soothed gently. “You’ve done enough.”_

_Kriff, he wanted to go with her. He wanted her so badly._

_“You’ve done enough.”_

_“Stop this!”_

_“You’ve done enough.”_

_“Bly, you have to breathe! Breathe dammit!”_

_“You’ve done enough.”_

_“Execute Order 66.”_

Everything around him suddenly shifted. They were surrounded by the beautiful jungles of Saleucami, Aayla walking just a few feet in front of them.

_“Execute Order 66.”_

His men surrounded her, they were all raising their guns. Kriff, his was raised too. She was looking around, confused, never even had the chance to raise her lightsaber in defense before-.

“Rex.” He wheezed again. He was dying. Karking hells, he was dying. He was going to die here.

“Bly, listen to me, you’re going to be fine, just-.”

“Rex, save-.”

He cut off abruptly, his eyes rolling back as his head lolled back.

“Bly?” Rex whispered. _“Bly!”_

As Rex held him, Bly began to crumble in his arms, breaking away into ash in his palms, his limp body sifting through his fingers like dust, the only thing remaining of the former clone commander was the flower he’d been carrying, bright and beautiful in the center of the pile.

Rex stared at it, reached for it-.

And then the flower disappeared, the dust blowing away into nothingness right along with it.

~

“Kix, calm down.” Wolffe tried to soothe the medic.

“No, you don’t understand, Clover said that flower was somebody’s _life!”_ Kix hissed. He looked over the edge of the cavern. “Nine hells, what if it fell? What if I dropped it down there?” He trembled slightly. “I could’ve just killed somebody. One of our own. I could’ve killed one of our own brothers.”

“Thinking like that won’t bring your flower back.” Cody snapped, his senses finally beginning to return to him at long last. “What happened, happened. There’s no use in wasting our breath over it now, Kix. We have to keep moving.”

“How can you say that?!” Kix cried, horrified. “With respect, Commander, that’s somebody’s _life-.”_

“If you dropped it down there,” Cody jerked his head towards the abyss. “It’s nobody’s life anymore.”

Kix paled at that, swaying slightly where he stood. “This isn’t happening.” He whispered. “This can’t be happening.”

“Hey.” Wolffe said suddenly, pointing down the hallway. “Is that it, Kix?”

Kix looked up, following Wolffe’s finger down the hall. A small yellow flower was leaning up against the wall, enticing them down the hallway into the darkness. Kix shook his head slowly, approaching the flower with caution.

“No… no mine is – was – red.” Kix mumbled back.

**“POPPY HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM THE GAME.”**

The words rang out through the hall, echoing out of the cavern below them. Kix flinched, wrapping his arms around himself in horror.

“Little gods, I killed him.” Kix whispered. “Whoever he was, I killed him.”

**“CT-6116, YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE. POPPY WAS STILL CARRYING HIS FLOWER WHEN HE MET HIS UNTIMELY END.”**

The three men looked at the flower by the wall.

“You’re still in the game, Kix.” Wolffe cautioned. “You’ve gotta pick it up.”

Kix shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “I can’t, I can’t do that again.”

**“IF CT-6116 DOES NOT CLAIM THIS FLOWER, I WILL HAVE NO CHOICE TO KILL ITS HOST.”**

“Kix!” Cody snapped.

“Alright!” Kix shouted back, hurrying over to the flower and delicately lifting it into his hand. He held it close, not daring to put it in his pocket this time.

**“I TRUST EVERYONE NOW FULLY UNDERSTANDS THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOSING ONE’S FLOWER?”**

There was no answer, but Clover seemed to understand that the silence itself was answer enough.

**“VERY WELL. PLEASE PROCEED DOWN THE HALLWAY. SOMEONE IS WAITING FOR YOU.”**

Cody looked apprehensively to Kix and Wolffe, but the three of them proceeded down the hallway.

~

Fives listened as Clover’s voice rang out through the cavern above them, echoing down to where they were standing.

“CT-6116.” Jesse repeated. “That’s-.”

“Kix.” Tup finished for him. “Looks like your theory is right so far, Fives.”

“I wish it wasn’t.” Fives muttered back. Jesse looked stricken.

“Kix is in here.” Jesse whispered. “Kriff… I figured he was but…”

“He’s gotta be right up there, Jesse.” Fives soothed, pointing up towards the maze of pipes above them. “Clover was talking to somebody up there.”

Fives nodded. “That flower… Kix must’ve dropped it from up there, when he was crossing the pipes or something.”

“So, whoever Poppy was,” Tup said quietly. “They’re dead now.”

Fives bit his lower lip, looking solemnly between Tup and Jesse. “We need to keep moving.” He finally said. “Maybe we can catch up to Kix and whoever’s with him up there.”

“Fives?”

Fives’s heart thundered to a stop in his chest. He knew that voice. He whipped his head back towards the dark hallway, his eyes widening.

“Rex?”

“Fives, don’t, it might be a trap.” Jesse warned.

“Rex!” Fives shouted, louder.

“Fives!”

_“Rex!”_

“Dammit, Fives, wait!”

Fives took off down the hallway, barreling thoughtlessly into the darkness. He could hear Tup and Jesse calling for him behind him, but their voices faded away as Rex’s grew louder.

“Fives! Fives!”

“I’m coming, Rex, hang on!” Fives shouted back, slowing to a stop. Kriff, he couldn’t see a damn thing. He looked behind him, expecting to see Tup wielding the lightsaber and running up behind him. Tup and Jesse were both gone, their voices long faded. Fives squinted, trying to force his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness.

“Rex?” He called, his voice low. The hair stood up on the back of his neck. He felt a hand on his back.

“Hello, Fives.”

He gasped, jerking away from the hand. Kriff, he couldn’t see a damn thing. He couldn’t see his own hands in front of his face.

“Rex?” Fives called again, a little more desperately. “Rex, answer me!”

“When are you going to learn, Fives?”

The lights suddenly flashed on. A clone was standing in front of him.

“Straying from the path, striking out on your own, _disobeying orders?”_

The clone grinned. The familiar face. The eyes. The armor – oh kriff, the armor – _that handprint._

“It only gets you killed.”

Blood was pounding in his head. All sound was muffled around him. He drew a sharp, steading breath.

“Echo?”

The clone’s grin grew wider, manic.

“Hello, brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He never learns, does he?
> 
> See you in the next update! Thanks for all the kudos and comments, you guys are amazing!!!


	12. Shadowmen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So very sorry for the delay! I had personal health issues that kept me from writing, but updates should be arriving normally from now on! 
> 
> thank you so much for all your continued support and comments on this story (special love to all those people who have since followed me on tumblr and left me messages there as well! Your support means so much to me and keeps this story going strong!)
> 
> Enjoy!

Rex turned the miniature holo-projector around in his hands. After Bly had – died wasn’t the right word, but Rex didn’t have the energy to come up with a good substitute – Rex had watched the dust that was left of him blow away into the darkness, like Bly had never been there at all. All that remained of him was the holo-projector that had been in their box from the very beginning. Rex supposed it was now his responsibility to take care of it.

The burns were healing quickly, at least that was something to be grateful for. He forced himself to his feet, willed his hands to stop shaking. He had to focus, had to find the others. Nobody else was going to die. Not if he could help it.

He pulled out his own flower, inspecting it carefully. It appeared undamaged, despite everything he’d been through. He relaxed, tucking it back into his pocket as he continued on down the darkened halls.

~

Kix shuffled along quietly behind Cody and Wolffe, his eyes glued to the ground.

“How’s he doing?” Wolffe asked, nodding his head towards Kix. Cody sighed, shaking his head.

“How are any of us doing?” He replied in a low voice. Wolffe frowned.

“What about you? How’s your head?” He shifted tactics. “Did you hit it or something? You were in a karking trance or something when we found you.”

Cody shivered involuntarily. “I don’t know.” He admitted. “Feels like… like I’m not in my own head. Like somebody else got in my brain and they just… take over sometimes.” He shuddered again. “I’m alright now, I’m all me, I think. I can’t explain it.”

Wolffe studied him, concerned, but nodded slowly. “Right,” he muttered. “We’ll keep an eye on you then.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sound was their footfalls echoing through the halls.

“Do you know what flower you have?” Wolffe asked eventually.

Cody shook his head, pulling it out of his pocket for Wolffe to look at it. “No idea what it is.”

With a sudden moment of shock, Cody realized his arm no longer hurt. He looked down at it expectantly, rolled his shoulder. “What the kriff?”

“What is it?” Wolffe asked, halting to look at Cody. Kix dragged his eyes up from the ground at the commotion.

“My arm.” Cody replied, shifting his weight again. “I thought I broke it, when I first came in here. Or at the very least dislocated it.” He rolled his shoulder again, stretched his arm across his chest. “Feels perfectly fine now.”

“Let me see.” Kix stepped forward abruptly, suddenly enlivened. Cody obliged, holding his arm out for Kix to inspect. The medic pulled off his jacket, rolled up the sleeve of his t-shirt underneath.

“The hell?” Kix muttered, shifting Cody’s arm. “What is this thing?”

Wolffe moved around behind Cody, his cybernetic eye glowing in the dim light.

“What is it?” Cody asked nervously.

A small metal device was latched onto the back of Cody’s arm, a couple inches above his elbow. It had six hooks, each hook biting into Cody’s skin, preventing anyone from removing it without ripping off Cody’s flesh too.

“I don’t know.” Kix answered quietly, brushing his thumb across the metal. A small red light flashed on and off from the center of the device.

“It’s some kind of… tracker?” Wolffe guessed, prodding lightly at the area of Cody’s arm around the machine. “

“Cody, do you feel any pain?” Kix prompted gently. Cody shook his head.

“No, not at all. I don’t even feel anything on my arm.” He craned his neck back, trying to get a look at whatever it was attached to his arm. “Should we try to take it off?”

“We can’t.” Kix shook his head. “Not when it’s embedded in your skin like that.”

“Maybe that’s how we get eliminated.” Wolffe murmured. Cody and Kix both looked up at him.

“The kriff does that mean?” Cody demanded.

“We know there’s cameras all in this place.” Wolffe countered. “Maybe they watch us, and when they see something happens to our flower, they activate whatever this thing is, and that’s what kills us.”

“So, you think the rest of us might have one of these too?” Kix asked, immediately shrugging off his own jacket. “Check my arm.”

Wolffe quickly rolled up the sleeve of Kix’s shirt, inspecting the area where Cody’s device had been found.

“It… doesn’t look like you have one.” Wolffe answered quietly. “Check me?”

Cody and Kix did the same for Wolffe, shrugging him out of his jacket and lifting his sleeve.

“I don’t think you have one either-.”

“Wait!” Cody interrupted, tugging on the collar of Wolffe’s shirt. “Take your shirt off.”

Wolffe huffed, quickly pulling his shirt up and over his head, and he felt Cody’s hand, gently on his shoulder blade.

“You’ve got one right in the center of your back.” Kix reported.

“And a second one on my stomach.” Wolffe replied, looking down at his abdomen. Just below his chest cavity, nestled above his abdominal muscles, was a second device.

“It lines up perfectly with the one on your back.” Cody whispered, awestruck. “What the hell?”

“Kix, are we sure you don’t have one on you somewhere?” Wolffe asked, pulling his shirt back on. Kix hesitated, looking shakily down at himself.

“I… I don’t know.” He muttered, starting to take off his own shirt. “Help me look-.”

“Kix?”

All three men froze in place, turning towards the sound of the voice.

“Kix?!” The voice repeated, louder, more urgent.

“Holy kriff.” Kix swore, running towards the open mouth of the hallway.

Jesse and Tup stumbled into view, Jesse immediately running to Kix and scooping him up in his arms.

“Kriff, thank all the little gods you’re safe.” Kix mumbled, holding Jesse close.

“Commanders!” Tup saluted briefly before Cody cut him off, wrapping him up in a tight hug.

“You alright, soldier?” Cody asked gently, pulling back. Tup shrugged, pushing a lock of his hair out of his face.

“Alright as we can be, sir.” He replied. “Fives was with us, but we got separated. We were looking for him when we heard your voices.”

“Fives?” Wolffe repeated. “The ARC Trooper? He’s here?”

Tup nodded. “We thought it was all 501st men at first, but if you two are here.” He shook his head. “I guess we’re wrong.”

“Alright,” Jesse began, pulling back from Kix enough to face the group again. “Fives and I woke up in the same room, so that’s two of us. There’s Commander Wolffe-.”

“I found Kix a few minutes after I woke up.” Wolffe interjected. Jesse nodded, continuing to count off names on his fingers.

“So Kix and Wolffe,” he continued. “Commander Cody?”

“I was by myself.” Cody clarified.

“So, Commanders Cody and Wolffe, me, Tup, Fives, and Kix.” Jesse recounted. “We’re missing two.”

“Rex.” Tup answered. “Fives was pretty certain he was in here.”

“He is.” Cody replied grimly. “Right before I was snatched, I was talking to Rex. I’m positive he’s in here.”

“Who’s the eighth clone?” Kix asked. “Any ideas?”

Memories from when Cody was taken suddenly jumped to the forefront of his mind, and his stomach dropped.

“Bly.” He answered quietly. “Commander Bly. I saw him get taken.”

“Rex and Bly.” Jesse confirmed with a nod. “That’s everyone.”

“One of them is dead.” Tup suddenly whispered, a ghostly pallor taking over his expression.

The implication of Tup’s words struck everyone like a chord. Everyone was accounted for except for Rex and Bly… _one of them had to be poppy._

“How do you know it wasn’t Fives?” Wolffe demanded.

“He was with us when Clover announced Poppy was eliminated.” Jesse responded. “It can’t be him.”

“It’s my fault.” Kix mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. “I… I killed a C.O.”

“You dropped it from that chasm, didn’t you?” Tup questioned gently, reaching out to the medic. “Fives found it, stuck on one of the pipes at the bottom of the chasm. We tried to get to it but-.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault Kix. You aren’t the one who put us in here.”

Kix chewed his lower lip, and Jesse squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

“Has anyone seen Bly or Rex at all in this place?” Cody asked. The others shook their head. “Rex and Bly – and I guess Fives now – that’s who we need to find next.”

“Rex _or_ Bly.” Kix corrected bitterly. Cody ignored him.

“What happened to Fives?” Wolffe questioned. “Where’d you see him last?”

“He just took off.” Tup explained carefully. “We heard a voice. Fives thought it was Rex. He took off running, and we tried to follow him, but he just -.” Tup snapped his fingers. “Vanished. Into thin air.”

Wolffe sighed, his hands on his hips. “All right, everyone take out your flowers. Let’s see if we can’t figure out who’s who.”

Everyone did as they were told, pulling out their flowers and holding them out in their hands. “I have a black iris, I think.” Jesse began, holding out his flower. “And Fives, wherever he is, definitely has a snapdragon.”

“Clover told me at the very beginning mine is a Corpse Flower.” Wolffe added, swallowing back a shudder at the insidiousness of the name.

“Kix, you’ve got a sunflower.” Tup pointed at Kix’s hand. “Is that what you’ve always been carrying?”

Kix shook his head. “No… no my original flower was – must have been a poppy.” Kix answered weakly, his hands shaking as he cupped the delicate flower in his hands. “This one just… showed up, after I lost poppy.”

“Whoever Poppy was, he must have been carrying the sunflower initially.” Wolffe mused. “Tup, what do you have?”

“No idea.” Tup replied. “I don’t recognize Cody’s either.”

“I do.” Kix said suddenly, perking up as he looked at Cody’s flower for the first time. “That’s belladonna. I’ve had to use it before in the field. It can help abdominal pain.”

“Hang on, each of us have a name that corresponds to a flower, right?” Tup clarified. “Kix recognized the belladonna right away, he’s even _used_ it before.” He turned to Kix. “Kix, I think you’re Codename Belladonna. I think Cody has _you.”_

~

“How are the subjects?”

He turned, glancing at the woman over his shoulder before nodding.

“Codename Poppy has been eliminated first.” He reported. The woman blinked slowly.

“This is… contrary to our initial predictions.” She answered thinly. “What of the other subjects?”

“They’re beginning to figure out their codenames. Again, faster than we anticipated.” He replied. “We’ve initiated Trial One for Codename Corpse Flower. Our predictions have him listed as next to be eliminated.”

“Very well. Proceed as planned.” The woman nodded. “And the FRENZY?”

“Three hours have elapsed.” He answered smoothly. “Codename Lotus is showing more advanced symptoms than Codename Black Iris. Codename Lotus is already in the hallucination stage.”

“Our plans are being advanced ahead of schedule.” The woman drawled, turning away. “Slow them down. See to it that one of them is eliminated within an hour.”

“Yes ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know who's next?
> 
> Let me know what you think of this update in the comments! See you soon!


	13. To Bite the Hand That Feeds You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello I'm Back!!
> 
> I know I've been on hiatus for several weeks, but if any of you follow my Tumblr you know I've been pretty inactive on there as well. I've had some pretty serious health complications recently (I actually JUST got discharged from the hospital last night) so my sincerest apologies for not updating in so long! The good news is I'm back to hopefully updating on my regular schedule now. Thank you all so much for your continued patience, and I hope you enjoy!

“Echo?” Fives repeated, staring at his brother. “What… What are… you’re dead.” He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re _dead.”_

“How would you know?” Echo simpered, cocking his head to one side in mock inquisitiveness. “You _left_ me, Fives. You left me there to _die!”_

Fives flinched. “It’s not – I didn’t have a choice!” He protested. “I wanted to look for you, Echo! I wanted to, but I couldn’t!”

_“You coward.”_

Echo’s voice had taken on a sinister quality as he surged towards Fives, his voice sounded robotic, dark and growly. It wasn’t _him._

“You aren’t real.” Fives whispered, closing his eyes. As soon as he shut his eyes, a hand wrapped around his throat, and he gasped, his eyes flying open as Echo lifted him off the ground, still crushing his windpipe.

“You left me, and now look at what they’ve done to me!” Echo screamed. His hair began to melt away, his skin twisting and blistering, his legs disappearing and being exchanged with a twisted mess of wires and metal. The hand wrapped around Fives’s throat changed to another tangled mass of wire, electricity crackling out of them and snapping near Fives’s eyes. “I’m not _human_ anymore!”

“I’m sorry.” Fives choked out. “I’m so sorry.”

He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t _breathe_.

“Echo…” He gasped, clawing at his throat. _“Please…”_

“You deserve to die.” Echo snarled. He tightened his grip.

“It should’ve been _you._ ”

~

Rex stumbled down the halls, tried to keep his eyes open. He was fatigued. Even though his injuries were healing, he couldn’t handle this much strain. The adrenaline of it all was starting to wear off, and the exhaustion and pain in his body was finally starting to get to him.

A dark figure began to steadily take shape at the end of the hallway, and Rex froze. It looked like a person, but they were standing stock still, their silhouette completely unmoving, frozen in place like a statue. Rex took a cautious step forward, his eyes adjusting.

Rex recognized the faded grey clothes that matched his own, the familiar cut of hair, the broad shoulders just _slightly_ wider than his own. His heart skipped a beat.

“Fives?” he called, hope tinging his voice. “Fives!”

He picked up speed, a sudden burst of energy rejuvenating him as he rushed forward towards his friend. “Fives, are you-.”

He stopped, circling around in front of the ARC Trooper. Fives was staring straight ahead, his mouth agape, eyes glazed over like he was in some sort of trance.

“Fives?” Rex repeated, snapping his fingers in front of his face. “Fives, hey!”

He grabbed Fives by the shoulders, shaking him gently. As soon as he touched him, Fives gasped sharply, his hands going around his neck, his eyes still glazed over.

“Fives!” Rex shouted. Fives’s fingers tightened around his own throat, gasping weakly as his grip strengthened. “Fives! Snap out of it!”

Fives’s face was turning crimson purple, his eyes bulging out of his head as his own hands squeezed tighter around his throat.

“Fives! _Fives!_ Damn it I’m not losing you too!” Rex screamed, grabbing Fives’s hands and trying to yank them away from his throat. “Karkin’ sithspit! _ARC-5555!”_

For a split second, Fives’s hands loosened around his throat just enough for Rex to slip his fingers through, pulling his hands roughly away from his throat and wrestling him to the ground, pinning his arms to the floor.

“Get ahold of yourself, soldier!” Rex shouted as Fives writhed on the ground beneath him. “Fives!”

With an abrupt sharp gasp, Fives’s eyes rolled back in his head, his back arching before he suddenly went still on the floor.

~

“I don’t understand.” Cody shook his head. “I have Kix?”

“I think so.” Tup replied, nodding emphatically. “I mean, I have no idea who anybody else has, but I’m willing to wager Kix is Belladonna, and Cody is holding Kix.”

“So just like Poppy then, if something happens to the Belladonna flower, it will happen to Kix as well?” Jesse asked.

“Only one way to find out.” Wolffe grunted, looking pointedly at the flower.

“Absolutely not!” Cody sputtered, cupping a hand protectively around his flower. “We’re not going to play with somebody’s _life_ like that!”

“What if it is me?” Kix countered. “I could be the test. We can figure out who’s who, what happens, everything.” He dropped his gaze again, pain in his eyes. “I deserve it anyway.”

“Kix-.”

Before Tup could finish, something long and dark exploded from the wall, wrapping itself around both Wolffe and Jesse before snapping backwards, pulling both of them into the wall.

“What the kriff?!”

“Jesse!”

“Commander!”

The lights flashed on in front of the remaining troopers, and they saw a glass box in the center of the room, and inside the box was a commlink. It was blinking.

“Is that a commlink?” Kix whispered. “Can we call for help?”

Tup approached it warily, cocking his head at the box, and suddenly noticed an inscription etched onto the glass.

C C 2 2 2 4

He turned over his shoulder, looking at Cody.

“It’s for you, sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated! Check me out @rowansparrow-writing on tumblr as well!


	14. The Haunting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you so much for all the comments and Kudos. It really does keep this story going!!
> 
> Trigger Warning: There's descriptions of burn injuries again, and there's some implication of death via hanging.

_Fives…_

Echo. It had been Echo. It was really him. He was there. Was he there? Was it him? Where were they? What had happened? Fives couldn’t remember anymore.

_Fives._

It was hard to breathe. Why couldn’t he draw a breath? _Where’s Echo?_

_Fives!_

His head was spinning. His throat felt tight. His fingers and jaw ached. What had happened?

_Fives!!_

Where was he?

_FIVES!!_

He gasped, inhaling heavily as he sat bolt upright, his forehead coming within mere centimeters of colliding with another person’s face.

“Thank _Force,”_ The other person gasped, and a pair of strong arms quickly encircled Fives, pulling back just as fast as hands inspected him closely, fingertips ghosting across his neck. “Are you alright, can you breathe? Ah, kriff, that’s gonna leave a mark.”

“Rex?” Fives muttered hoarsely, his hazy vision beginning to clear slightly. “Rex, that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Rex whispered back, cupping Fives’s face in his hands. “Kriff, scared the karkin’ shit outta me, soldier. Thought you were-.”

Rex couldn’t finish, and he turned his head away, taking a few steadying breaths. “Never mind. What’s important is you’re alright now.” He turned back to Fives, pulling him back into his arms. “Sweet Force…”

“Your arms.” Fives mumbled, still slightly dazed. He pulled back from Rex again, holding his captain at arms length as they inspected one another.

Rex’s arms were littered in burns, the same treatment spread up his neck and face as well. Hell, it looked like any exposed skin was completely covered in healing blisters. Rex looked down sheepishly at his own skin, tucking his hands away from Fives.

“It’s alright, I’m fine now.” He promised. “Bly got me some bacta-.”

He cut himself off, remembering what had happened to Bly and swallowing thickly. “Bly’s dead.”

“He – what?” Fives asked, shaking his head slowly. “I don’t understand. Bly is in here?”

“Was.” Rex confirmed with a small nod. “He’s… he’s gone now.”

Fives processed this information, and put his head in his hands. “Oh kriff.”

“What is it? What’s the matter?” Rex asked, worry coloring his voice.

“There was a flower.” Fives explained. “It – somebody dropped it. I tried to get to it but I… I couldn’t get there.” He mumbled. “That must have been Bly.” He ground the heel of his hands into his eyes. “Kriff, Rex. It’s my fault Bly’s dead.”

“It most certainly is not.” Rex replied forcefully. “It’s the fault of whoever’s doing this to us.”

Fives didn’t fight him any further, choosing instead to ghost his hands across Rex’s skin again. “What happened to you?” He asked quietly.

“I… There was this chamber.” Rex murmured, shuddering at the memory. “It was split into two halves. I was on one side, and Bly was one the other. Bly’s half filled with water, and my half was a furnace. I… I had to stand in the hot furnace, or else Bly would drown.” Rex finished, shaking slightly. “I was on _fire,_ Fives.”

“Skrag…” Fives whispered, horrified. “I can’t believe you’re still kicking.”

“We found bacta, and some water. Speaking of which.” He had slung the canteens over his shoulder earlier, and brought one down for Fives. “Drink.”

Fives accepted it gratefully, taking several large swallows before sitting back. “Thanks.”

The two men sat in silence for a moment, relieved to just be alive, before Fives spoke again.

“Have you seen anyone else in here?” He questioned. Rex shook his head.

“Just you so far. What about you?”

“I was with Tup and Jesse for a little bit.” Fives replied. “We…” he rubbed his head tiredly. “Kriff, I don’t remember what happened to them. One minute I heard your voice, and the next…” He trailed off again. “I don’t remember. I don’t remember a damn thing.”

“Don’t push yourself to remember anything right now.” Rex replied, heaving himself up to his feet and beckoning for Fives to stand as well. “Right now, we need to keep moving, and see if we can’t find the others.”

Fives nodded in agreement, and stood up, his hand finding Rex’s in the darkness and holding it tightly.

~

“It’s for you, sir.”

Cody approached the commlink, Kix trailing along quietly behind him.

“Jesse?” Kix called softly. “Jesse!”

“Keep your voice down.” Tup chided quietly. “We don’t know what this is yet.”

“Something took them.” Kix whispered. “Something grabbed them… took them away…”

Kix sounded vaguely delirious, and Tup moved to steady him, keeping his hand firmly on the medic’s shoulders to help keep him grounded.

Cody, meanwhile, was crouched in front of the glass, looking at the blinking commlink apprehensively. Slowly, he reached out to the glass, lifting it off the commlink and setting it aside.

As soon as the glass was off, a loud buzzer resounded through the hallway, and two lights lit up in front of them, illuminating two figures.

“Holy-.”

**HELLO, COMMANDER.**

The voice cut Tup off midsentence, and Cody swallowed roughly as he took in the sight before him.

Jesse and Wolffe were both blindfolded and gagged, a thick chain around their necks. They were teetering precariously on a flimsy platform, two dark holes cut into the ground below the platform.

**IN FRONT OF YOU IS A COMMUNICATOR.**

“Jesse!” Kix shrieked, starting to run forward to free Jesse, only to have Tup grab him and hold him back.

“Don’t!” Tup insisted, holding him against his chest. “We don’t know what happens if you grab them.”

Jesse had turned his head slightly towards the sound of Kix’s voice, and shifted his weight on the platform. That movement alone was enough to shake the whole thing, and the chains around their necks went taught for one horrifying moment before slackening again.

**YOUR TASK IS TO SPEAK TO THE INDIVIDUAL ON THE RECEIVING END OF THIS COMMUNICATOR. YOUR ONLY OBJECTIVE IS TO MAKE THE PERSON ON THE OTHER END OF THIS COMMUNICATOR SAY THE WORDS “I HATE YOU”. YOU WILL HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO COMPLETE THIS OBJECTIVE.**

“That’s it?” Tup asked quietly, looking to Cody. “You can do that, right? That’s nothing.”

**IF YOU SHOULD FAIL TO COMPLETE THIS TASK, THE PLATFORM HOLDING YOUR FELLOW SOLDIERS WILL DISENGAGE, AND THEY WILL BE HANGED.**

Kix made a soft sound of despair somewhere behind Cody.

**IF YOU ATTEMPT TO ALERT THE INDIVIDUAL TO THE SITUATION, IF YOU ATTEMPT TO CALL FOR HELP, EXPRESS YOUR LOCATION, OR REVEAL ANY KNOWLEDGE TO THIS PERSON IN ANY WAY, YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE HANGED.**

Cody looked down at the communicator, and silently nodded his understanding.

**PICK UP THE COMMUNICATOR, COMMANDER.**

Cody took a deep breath, and picked up the device, holding it to his lips as he accepted the transmission.

“H-Hello?”

“Cody! Where in the blazes have you been, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Cody felt his stomach drop, his knees weak. No. No, not him. Not him.

A timer popped to life between Wolffe and Jesse, began counting down.

Cody knew that voice. That Coruscanti lilt. He’d know that voice anywhere.

“Obi-Wan?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you do it? 
> 
> Let me know what you think of this update in the comments!! Thanks so much for all the support, i'll see you next week!


	15. FRENZY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very heavy. Trigger Warning for verbal attacks, strangulation, hanging, and, unfortunately, Character Death. 
> 
> Good luck.

“What’s going on? Why hasn’t Codename Corpse Flower been eliminated yet?” She demanded, stalking into the control rooms and glaring at the cameras.

“It seems as though we had an unexpected interruption to the frequency.” A man answered, squinting at his monitor. “Codename Bloodflower came to his aide, and thus prevented his endgame.”

She took a deep breath, scowling slightly as she tried to compose herself. “This… is most unfortunate.”

“There seems to be another problem, ma’am.” Another man announced. “Codename Lotus has gone into early FRENZY.”

“We were guaranteed six hours until the FRENZY strain would take effect.” She replied, the composure quickly draining from her voice.

“Yes ma’am, but for whatever reason Codename Lotus seems to have been activated early.” He replied. “The stress from this challenge could potentially push him over the edge.”

He turned over his shoulder, looking to her.

“What shall we do?”

She considered his words for a moment, mulled them over, and turned away.

“Let him turn.” She replied quietly, folding her hands serenely behind her back. “Codename Lotus will destroy himself in the turning. This will all go according to plan.”

“Yes ma’am.”

~

Cody’s heart thundered in his chest. By all the little gods, how was he supposed to do this, convince anyone, convince _Obi-Wan,_ to say he hated him?

“Cody?” Obi-Wan’s voice replied again over the commlink. “Are you alright? I sense you’re… troubled.”

Kix was covering his mouth in mute horror as Cody held the commlink, his eyes shifting between the Commander and back to Jesse, strung up like a puppet and ready to drop.

“I’m-.” Cody’s voice cracked horribly, and he shifted his gaze back over Wolffe and Jesse. Their lives were quite literally hanging in the balance. He had to do this.

He cleared his throat. _Focus._

“I’m alright sir.” He replied in a much clearer voice. “Just not feeling my best.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Obi-Wan questioned, worry coloring his voice. “You don’t seem like yourself at all. Has something happened? Where are you?”

Kriff. How the hell was he supposed to get through this without alerting Obi-Wan’s suspicions?

“I- I can’t answer that sir.” Cody replied, biting his lower lip.

Immediately, the chain around Wolffe’s neck tightened sharply, and Cody gasped as Wolffe was lifted a foot off the ground, his legs kicking helplessly as the chains cut off his airway.

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” Obi-Wan asked, definitely concerned now.

Wolffe was released after a few moments, gulping down air behind his gag as his feet resettled on the horribly flimsy platform, and a message flickered across the timer screen for a brief moment before continuing to count down from five minutes.

**_IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN THE CONSEQUENCES IF YOU TELL HIM ANYTHING._ **

Cody caught his breath, forced himself to calm down. Four minutes, thirteen seconds.

“Cody?” Obi-Wan asked again. “Cody, where are you? Tell me at once, that’s an order!”

“Sir, please, I need you to do something for me.” Cody began, his voice urgent and focused. “I… I need you to say you hate me.”

“What?!”

“Please, sir. It’s important. I wouldn’t ask it of you unless it was absolutely-.”

“Absolutely not!” Obi-Wan stormed, his voice growing more tense by the moment. “What’s happening? Where are you? Why do you want me to say such a thing?”

Three minutes, twenty-nine seconds. The chain around Jesse’s neck now tightened threateningly, and Tup had to once again hold Kix, one hand clamped over the other soldier’s mouth to keep him quiet as Cody continued.

“Please, General Kenobi. I’ll explain everything to you, I promise, you just have to-.”

Jesse’s chain jerked sharply, and this time he was lifted off the platform, held just high enough for the tip of his shoes to brush against the safety of the platform without touching it, his choking gasps echoing throughout the chamber.

“General, please!” Cody begged, watching Jesse writhe above the platform as Tup held Kix back. “Please, just say it.”

“Cody, what in the blazes-.”

“I don’t love you.”

The words hung heavy in the air, and Cody watched as Jesse was slowly lowered back onto the platform. So this was what Clover wanted. He wanted Cody to _force_ the words out of Obi-Wan.

“You… what?” Obi-Wan asked softly, his voice suddenly small.

“I don’t love you.” Cody repeated, squeezing his eyes shut and willing his voice to stay steady.

_You can make this right when you get out of this hell. Just get him to say the words._

Two minutes, forty-six seconds.

“What’re you saying?” Obi-Wan asked. “What’s happened?”

“I… I left.” Cody said breathlessly, his gut wrenching as he bit down hard on his knuckles to keep from crying. He drew a deep breath, trying to keep his voice level. “I left you. I’m just… I’m a tool for you. I’m just a bit of canon fodder to you.”

“That’s not-!”

“So I left you.” Cody spoke over him, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks. “I left the army, I left the Jedi, the kriffin’ Republic, I left _you.”_

One minute, fifty-eight seconds.

“I couldn’t stand the sight of you.” Cody continued, the thick sadness muffling his voice twisting to sound like anger, like biting acid as he spoke. “I don’t love you. I _never_ loved you. You were nothing more to me than an escape, a comedown from the adrenaline after a bad battle. Nothing more than a good lay after a hard fight.”

His stomach knotted. He felt like he was going to throw up.

“I don’t love you, Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He whispered.

The silence in the chamber was deafening, punctuated only by the soft breathing on the other end of the communicator. Cody watched the timer slowly tick down, the lives of his fellow soldiers, his fellow _men,_ hanging in the balance.

“Say the words, Kenobi.” Cody whispered. “Say them.”

Twenty seconds.

Obi-Wan didn’t answer, and Cody squeezed his eyes shut.

 _“SAY IT!”_ He screamed into the communicator, and Tup flinched.

Ten.

A heavy silence.

Nine.

There were voices rattling in Cody’s head.

Eight.

His arm was beginning to ache again.

Seven.

Something was happening to him. Something was wrong.

Six.

A slow, shuddering breath on the other end of the communicator.

Five.

Cody’s eyes glazed over. He felt gutted.

Four.

Then, ever so quietly, Obi-Wan’s voice spoke up, little more than a hoarse, broken whisper.

“I hate you.”

The timer stopped, and the communicator clicked off. Cody sank to his knees.

**WELL DONE, COMMANDER.**

“Cody?” Tup asked, craning his neck over Kix to look at Cody. “Oh, kriff!”

Cody was convulsing, twitching on the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head. The voices were louder now, echoing. Obi-Wan’s was among them.

“Cody!”

**I REALLY DIDN’T THINK YOU HAD IT IN YOU.**

Cody unleashed a primal yell, a sound drawn from the very core of his being as pain ripped through him, like a thousand vibro blades had plunged into his gut at the same time. His mind felt like it was being clawed open from inside his own head. His hands weren’t his own. This body wasn’t his own.

**NEVERTHELESS, THE SHOW MUST GO ON.**

Cody rolled to his stomach, his eyes snapping open and settling on Tup. Brilliant. Bloodshot. _Red._

**DROP THEM.**

Kix’s scream drowned out any other words Clover might have said as the platform beneath Wolffe and Jesse suddenly gave way, plunging the two men down into the hole below them. Tup held Kix up, barely even registering the loss of Wolffe and Jesse, his eyes glued to Cody as the Commander slowly rose to his feet, his body trembling like he’d been shot full of stimulants. He looked – _bigger._ His fingers had become claws. His teeth looked sharp. Veins bulged across his skin.

“Commander?” Tup uttered, clutching Kix defensively. “What is it?”

Cody huffed, baring his teeth like a wild animal as he sank down on his haunches, looking for all the world like a beast about to pounce.

“Cody?” Tup tried again, backing up a few paces and pulling Kix with him. A chipper, female voice resounded robotically through the chamber.

**Attention: Codename Lotus. FRENZY Activated.**

“Commander Cody!”

Tup didn’t wait to argue any further, grabbing Kix by the wrist and yanking him along as they took off running down the opposite end of the hallway, away from Cody.

Cody threw his head back in another primal shriek, and surged forward, giving chase.

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments! We're getting close to some answers for our little flowers...


	16. What Lies Below

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Sorry for the brief hiatus, and once again thank you so much for your patience. As I've expressed before, summertime is busy for me as I work nearly every day of the week, but I will continue to update this story as often as I can. Thanks so much to everyone who's stuck with me on this one. On to the next chapter!!

The first thing Wolffe registered was the frigid, ice-cold water enveloping his body. The second thing he registered was he was sinking _very_ quickly, the chain around his neck weighing him down. His hands were still bound, a gag over his mouth and eyes. He couldn’t move.

_Kick._

He kicked his legs wildly, trying to propel himself back towards the surface. His lungs were on fire, a sharp counterpoint to his frost-ridden skin. The chain kept forcing his body downwards, and Wolffe pumped his powerful legs as hard as he could, forcing himself back up the way he came. Was it the way he came? The blindfold was heavy around his eyes, he wasn’t sure which way was up or down anymore. Skrag, he couldn’t breathe-.

After what felt like a lifetime, his head finally broke the surface, the sopping wet gag coming loose around his mouth as the blindfold also fell off with a few shakes of his head. He heaved a deep breath, his legs aching with the effort of keeping him afloat as the chain continued trying to drag him downward, the strain of his neck muscles almost unbearable.

“Jesse!” Wolffe sputtered, his teeth chattering as his eyes tried to adjust to the pitch-blackness of the room. “Jesse!!”

Another unmistakable sound of a body breaking the surface, followed by harsh coughing and gasping.

“Jesse! Is that you?” Wolffe bellowed into the darkness.

“Yeah, I’m-.” A gurgling sound as Jesse was dragged back under the water for a moment. “’M here!”

“Do you see a shore?” Wolffe called back to him. “Do you see _anything_?”

“Negative sir, everything’s dark.” Jesse managed, his voice pinched as the chain tightened around his neck, the heavy weight forcing his head downward. “Kriff, Commander, we’re gonna exhaust ourselves and drown if we can’t figure out a way to get these chains off.”

“Here keep – keep making noise.” Wolffe shivered. “I’ll try to come towards you.”

“Alright.” Jesse called back, whistling sharply to help Wolffe navigate towards him in the darkness. “Did you understand anything that was happening?” He asked, momentarily pausing his whistling.

“Not really, I think Commander Cody was talking to General Kenobi.” Wolffe gritted back, forcing his teeth to stop chattering as he furiously kicked his way through the water, his head slipping below the surface a few times as his chain dragged along behind him, the heavy weight cutting off his air every now and then. At long last, he finally collided with a firm, equally cold body.

“Hello, Commander.” Jesse greeted, his legs thrashing furiously under the water to stay afloat.

“See if you can turn around. We have to get our hands free before we can do anything else.” Wolffe ordered. Jesse did as he was told, pushing his back against Wolffe as the Commander grunted with effort, turning himself around until his bound hands found Jesse’s under the water, tied behind his back.

“Watch out for my ass.” Jesse snarked.

“Now is most _certainly not_ the time-.”

“Sorry, sorry, just trying to ignore the fact that we’re freezing to death and drowning at the same time.” Jesse bit back, his teeth chattering slightly as Wolffe’s fingers, clumsy with the cold, fumbled with the binds around Jesse’s wrists. They were rope, just like they’d been at the beginning, and Wolffe would have almost been grateful for that, had the water not caused the ropes to swell up, making them even tighter around Jesse’s wrists. It was already difficult enough to try and untie a man’s hands, but now Wolffe was in the dark, underwater, trying to untie Jesse’s hands with his back turned.

“Kriff.” He swore softly, fingers finally settling on the knot and working at it furiously.

Jesse’s hands were attacking Wolffe’s wrists the best he could, chilled fingers dancing across his skin underwater as he fumbled with the ropes.

“Almost got it.” Wolffe growled, finally feeling the knot around Jesse’s wrists begin to loosen.

A soft growl resonated through the hollow chamber where they’d been dropped, and both men froze.

“What is that?” Jesse whispered, his voice shaking from fear or the cold, Wolffe couldn’t be sure. He looked up towards the ceiling, expecting to see the platform from which they’d been dropped, and was greeted instead by the same pitch blackness that surrounded them in the pool they were trapped in.

Wolffe didn’t answer Jesse’s question, but his hands worked faster on the ropes, finally managing to unravel them from his wrists. He let the rope drop, and Jesse lifted his hands, gasping as he tugged at his chain, easily finding the latch and letting that drop too. “Little gods.” He breathed in relief, turning back to Wolffe and feeling around for his hands. “Alright, let’s get you out of here, sir.”

Another low growl, and this time neither man paused, Jesse picking up the pace as he tried to untangle the ropes.

A flicker of light danced across the room for a moment, and Wolffe was briefly reminded of the flashing safety lights that lined the halls of Kamino when he was a cadet, and in that brief flash of light, Wolffe spotted something very dark, and very large, moving towards them in the water.

“Get the lead out, Jesse.” Wolffe told him through gritted teeth, his eyes locked on where he’d last seen the creature. Jesse finally unraveled the ropes, moving to Wolffe’s neck to help him find the chain.

The light flashed again. It was closer now. Wolffe could see several pairs of bright red eyes.

“Jesse!” Wolffe shouted.

“Got it!” Jesse cried back, letting the chain drop. The light flashed again, and Wolffe looked up just in time to see a massive jaw open around him, lined with hundreds of sharp teeth.

_“Fall Back!”_

Wolffe and Jesse exploded away from each other as the creature’s jaws snapped shut in the space they had occupied only moments before. The light flashed sporadically around them, illuminating the tiny cavern to show the rocky walls surrounding them.

“Scale the sides!” Wolffe bellowed to Jesse, making a break for the wall as he felt the water shift around him. The creature was on the move.

He dove under the water as he heard the monster snap its jaws deafeningly loud, inches away from his head, and made a dash for the wall, his frigid fingers scraping against the rocky surface. He exploded out of the water, his frozen body trembling as he grappled with the rocks, scaling the surface as fast as he could.

A roar from down below. He risked looking behind him. Jesse was still in the water, scrambling towards the wall as fast as he could, but the monster was giving chase.

“Jesse!” Wolffe screamed. “Go faster! Hurry!”

Jesse grimaced, finally grabbing hold of the rock wall and scrambling upwards. His foot slipped slightly, knocking some of the rocks back off and into the water. The splash seemed to distract the many-eyed creature, and Jesse was able to get a decent head start. Wolffe resumed climbing, hauling himself up the side of the rock wall and finally collapsing on the floor back in the room they’d been dropped from. He scrambled over to the edge, extending a hand to Jesse and helping to pull him up.

“You alright?” Wolffe asked, shivering in earnest now that he was out of the water and free of danger.

“Y-Yeah, thanks.” Jesse chattered back, lips tinted blue. “K-K-Kriff, we’re gonna freeze.” He whispered.

“Least we’re out of the water.” Wolffe replied, wrapping his arms around himself. He forced himself to his feet, pulling Jesse close and tucking him under one arm, desperate for any kind of heat. “Come on.” He gritted out. “Let’s move.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonder if their flowers are alright, after that ordeal...
> 
> See you at the next update!! <3 as always, comments fuel me. (it was actually a comment yesterday that reminded me to post this today!) So keep those coming! Thank you all for your support!


	17. The Center of the Labyrinth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I received word last night that the Clone Wars has been renewed for a surprise seventh season! To celebrate, I figured I'd update here again. :) Thanks to everyone who's been sticking around so far. Things are going to pick up quickly, so stay tuned!

Fives and Rex were leaning on each other as they walked, shuffling down the hallway.

“Just a bit further, Captain.” Fives panted softly. “Then we can rest for a little bit.”

“I don’t need to rest.” Rex retorted faintly. “We need to keep moving, find the others as fast as we can.”

“With all due respect sir, you look like sithspit.” Fives replied, looking at him worriedly. “Just take a moment to sit down and recollect yourself. We’ll go a little further, and then we’ll take a short rest, yeah?”

Rex grumbled, but didn’t protest as they continued their slow trek down the path. Somewhere behind them, a distant shriek echoed through the narrow hallways, and Fives felt a chill slide up and down his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention.

“What d’you suppose that was?” Rex asked, looking over his shoulder down the hallway they’d just came from.

“I don’t know, and I don’t think I want to stick around to find out.” Fives answered grimly. He picked up the pace, sliding his shoulders under Rex’s arm to help support his weight as they continued on as fast as they could manage.

~

“Where do you think the Commander went with Kix and Tup?” Jesse asked, his teeth still chattering as he walked alongside Wolffe, his body pressed up against Wolffe’s as they leaned on each other, desperate for shared body heat.

“Dunno,” Wolffe answered through gritted teeth. “They were just up here. Something must’ve happened. Kix wouldn’t have just… walked away after seeing you drop like that.”

Jesse flushed slightly, but didn’t disagree with Wolffe. They pressed on.

“Kriff.” Jesse muttered, brushing his hands over his pockets briefly. “Do you still have your flower?”

Wolffe’s heart stuttered in his chest for a moment as fear gripped him, and he pulled back from Jesse slightly, fumbling with his pockets. “Yeah.” He answered, relieved. “Yeah, I’ve still got it. Looks alright to me.” He added, looking over the flower carefully. Jesse nodded, pulling his out and looking it over carefully.

“I’ve still got mine. I think it’s alright too.” He replied softly. “Bit damp, but alright.”

“Karkin’ miracle.” Wolffe muttered, urging Jesse along as they picked up the pace. “Kriffin’ nine hells, we’ve got to find some way to warm up. We’ll kill ourselves wandering around like this.”

Jesse nodded in agreement. “Let’s keep walking, see if we can find another room or something.” He whispered, his joints tired and aching from the cold.

“Jesse?”

Jesse looked up, his heart thudding in his chest. Fives and Rex slowly came into view at the other end of the hallway, both looking worse for wear, but _alive._

“Thank gods.” Jesse murmured, moving faster and pulling Wolffe along as he rushed to meet his fellow soldiers. “You’re alive. Captain, you’re -.” He cut off, taking in Rex’s blistered skin. “Kriffin’ hell, sir. What happened to you?”

“What happened to _you?”_ Fives asked, pulling away from Rex just long enough to shrug his jacket off, throwing it around Jesse’s shoulders. “You’re _freezing.”_

“It’s a long story.” Wolffe answered gruffly, reaching for Rex. “Captain.”

Rex leaned into Wolffe’s touch, his frigid skin cooling against his own burns. Wolffe seemed relieved by the heat from Rex’s body, and the stoic Commander immediately folded himself around Rex, shivering furiously as Fives took Jesse into his arms the same way.

“Where are the others? I thought Tup was with you?” Fives asked.

“We got separated.” Jesse chattered, clinging to Fives. “Kix was with us too. And Commander Cody.”

“Cody’s alive?” Rex asked. “Kix? And Tup? They’re all here?”

Wolffe nodded. “Tup, Kix, Jesse, Commander Cody, Fives, you, and myself.” Wolffe replied. “And I guess… if you’re alive, that must mean Bly’s the one who…”

Rex nodded slowly, closing his eyes. “Bly was with me. He just… crumbled away, like ash, right in front of me.” He whispered.

“Did Bly have anything on him?” Wolffe asked. “Anything that might help us get out of here?”

“Um, yeah, actually.” He fished around in his pockets, withdrawing the holo-projector. “This thing. There’s no chip. It’s useless.”

“Wait.” Jesse said suddenly, digging around in his own pockets. “Little gods, I can’t believe this thing is still intact.” He was holding a data-chip.

Fives took it quickly, plugging it into the holo-projector and squinting as a series of words lit up the screen:

BACKFIRES OF WILL CREEPS OVERFLOWS IF COFFER LIVE PROWESS PLY BY POP PAGAN POND RUST JEWELERS OF SUNS BALLAD OXEN INK BOXED FELL OR ROW

“I don’t understand.” Fives whispered, scanning the words. “This doesn’t – none of this makes any sense!”

“We can work on puzzling it out later.” Wolffe gritted out. “Our priority right now needs to be finding the others. We must all come together as a group, it’s the only way out of this.”

“I concur with Commander Wolffe.” Rex nodded. “Let’s keep moving.”

~

“Go, go, go!” Tup urged, shoving Kix forward as they sprinted down the hallways. Kix was booking it as fast as his legs could carry him, not risking a glance behind him as he ran. Tup was hot on his heels, looking over his shoulders to track Commander Cody behind them. Little gods, Cody was on the kriffing _ceiling._

The Commander was skittering across the ceiling like an insect, growling and snarling as he gave chase to Tup and Kix.

“Door! On your left!” Kix shouted, picking up the pace as his eyes settled on the door just up ahead. Tup pumped his legs, skidding to a halt just behind Kix as the medic forced the door open, throwing himself inside as Tup scurried in behind him.

“Brace it!” Tup ordered, throwing his body weight against the door as Kix did the same. Cody shrieked, flinging himself against the door from the other side, one arm reaching around the door and clawing at Tup and Kix. He was much stronger than he had ever been before.

“Shut the kriffin’ door!” Kix bellowed, pushing his shoulder against the door as hard as he could.

“I’m trying!” Tup growled back, trying to force the door shut. Finally, Cody pulled his arm back, and Kix and Tup together were able to slam the door shut, quickly latching it. They could hear Cody snarling out in the hallway, heard his footsteps as he paced just outside the door.

“Skrag.” Kix whispered, panting. “Now what?”

Tup didn’t answer him, standing up instead. He pulled the lightsaber from his pocket again, activating it and shining it around the dark room. The room was instantly bathed in an ethereal blue glow, and Tup’s breath caught in his throat as the light washed over something in the middle of the room.

“What is that?” Kix asked, falling into step with him as the two men slowly approached the center of the room. They were captivated by the large stone pedestal in the middle of the room, and on top of it was a glass bowl. Tup stepped closer, read the engraving on the stone.

_CORPSE FLOWER._

“Holy kriff.” Tup whispered. “We found it.”

“Found what?” Kix asked, looking over his shoulder.

“This is it.” Tup repeated, looking around. There were eight other pedestals, all lining the room. “This is the Altar Room. This is how we escape.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Begin, use Groups of three.   
> Then to End, one of Four.   
> Look again, now. What do you see?
> 
> ;) 
> 
> See you next week!


	18. Cody, Interrupted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, at long last, I'm posting again!
> 
> Again, sorry for the huge delay, and I can't tell you how much it means to me that you've all continued having interest in this story. I've been worried about coming back to this after a such a long break because I didn't want to disappoint anyone, but hopefully you're all still here and still reading! 
> 
> To the anon who messaged me on tumblr, whoever you are: You're the one that helped me work up the nerve to come back to this story, so thank you. <3

The clones moved together as a unit, carefully making their way down the winding halls.

“Any luck on that data yet, Wolffe?” Fives asked, glancing at Wolffe over his shoulder. The Commander shook his head, keeping his gaze firmly planted on the series of nonsense words lighting up the holo-projector.

“I’m sure it’s some kind of code.” He replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Just can’t make heads or tails of what it might mean.”

Fives grit his teeth. “Keep moving.” He murmured to the others. “Hopefully we’ll find the rest of our group before anything bad happens to them.”

Rex hissed quietly under his breath, clutching his side as they walked.

“Hey, you doin’ alright _, vod_?” Fives asked worriedly, slowing to walk at his side. Rex nodded, straightening up.

“I’m fine.” He promised. “Just still hurts a bit.”

“I can carry you, if you’d like.” Fives offered. Rex scowled, nudging him affectionately.

“Watch it, soldier.” He muttered, and Fives smiled gently, reaching to hold Rex’s wrist reassuringly as they walked, careful of his badly damaged fingers.

A soft, low moan echoed through the halls, and every man froze.

“Not again.” Jesse shook his head, practically begging. “For fek’s sake, please, no more. I can’t take it anymore.” He groaned.

“Does anyone have weapons?” Fives asked, fumbling around in his jacket for the serrated blade he’d killed the Nexu with in the beginning.

“I had… I had a stun baton, in the beginning.” Wolffe murmured back, tucking the holo projector away to keep it safe. “I think I lost it when I was helping Kix.”

They formed a protective circle, all looking around the hall for the source of the noise, when they heard a loud clatter somewhere up ahead.

“What was that?” Jesse hissed.

“Only one way to find out.” Fives murmured, releasing Rex’s wrist in favor of the blade, and stepped forward down the hall, looking around cautiously. The men behind him didn’t dare make a sound.

Fives peered down the dark hall, his eyes settling on something on the ground. He picked it up cautiously, looking it over.

“It’s a pair of binders.” He reported. “There’s no release key with them.”

“What is a pair of binders doing just sitting out here in the middle of the hallway?” Wolffe asked, stepping forward and taking the wrist binders from Fives, looking them over. He shrugged.

“Maybe they were in somebody’s box, and they got dropped.” He offered. “Just hold onto them for now. Could be useful later.”

“I’ll hold them.” Rex murmured, reaching for the binders. Wolffe nodded, handing them over to the Captain.

The low moaning resonated through the chamber again, and Wolffe frowned, glancing up at the ceiling.

“What the kriff…?” He murmured, squinting. The rest of the group turned towards the ceiling, and a gob of spit landed on Wolffe’s forehead. “Ew, what the -!”

A violent shriek, followed by a flurry of snarls and growls, and Cody dropped from the ceiling, narrowly missing landing directly on top of Wolffe.

“What is that?! _What is that?!”_ Jesse screamed, springing backwards as Fives pushed Rex against the wall, holding the knife defensively. Rex stared at the creature, watching as it drew itself up to its full height, staring them down. _That scar._

“Cody.” He whispered.

“Everybody move, now!” Fives shouted.

Rex was shell shocked, unable to move as Cody snarled again, swiping at Fives as the ARC Trooper swung his knife at Cody, trying to fend him off.

Wolffe suddenly had him by the forearms, lifting him off the wall like a ragdoll and practically launching Rex down the hall, away from the monster behind them. Rex shot a glance over his shoulder as Fives ran after him, and Cody – or what was left of him – stared back at him. Rex felt his gaze pierce straight through him, looking back at him with glowing red orbs – there _were_ no eyes anymore – and it shrieked again, giving chase to the group.

“Go, go, go!” Fives urged, shoving Rex forward. The group ran aimlessly down the winding hallways as fast as they could, and Cody was gaining on them.

“Split up!” Wolffe shouted suddenly. “He can’t go after all of us!”

“Stay with me,” Fives ordered Rex, grabbing his hand before he got any stupid ideas about going off on his own when he was that badly injured.

Rex was dimly aware of Wolffe and Jesse’s footsteps suddenly ceasing around him as they ducked down other paths or found places to hide. What happened to Cody? What was wrong with him? _How could he save him?_

Fives yanked Rex into an alcove, clamping a hand over the Captain’s mouth to keep him quiet as he tried to control his own breathing. A distant growl. Low. Close. Fives looked down at Rex.

_Stay quiet. Don’t move._

Both men froze, trying to control their breathing as they felt the ground below them groan under the weight of something large moving slowly towards them in the darkness.

_Listen to the sounds around you. Wait._

It was coming closer.

_Don’t. Move._

The movement stopped. Neither man dared make a sound.

A huff of air, directly next to Fives.

_Now!_

Fives yanked Rex to the ground just as Cody shrieked, swinging his massive clawed hand against the wall where Fives and Rex had been moments before. Just as it was about to pounce on them again, a flash of bright blue light lit up the room as Tup wielded the lightsaber again, swinging it at Cody. Cody screeched, scrambling up the wall and down the hall.

“He’ll be back.” Tup warned them as Fives helped Rex back to his feet. “Down the hall, first door on your left. Kix is waiting. Go, hurry!”

Fives nodded, physically lifting Rex and carrying him down the hall as fast as he could. “I’ve got you, _cyare._ ” He whispered to Rex as they ran. “I’ve got you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know the riddle yet? 
> 
> see you next time!


	19. The Fall of Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for Major character death, and for gore.   
> Thank you for all your nice comments, it's good to be back!!

Jesse and Wolffe had ducked down a separate hallway from Rex and Fives, and were pressed against the wall, side by side. They’d heard Cody – the creature – howl down the other hallway. It must’ve given chase to Rex and Fives.

“Should we try to double back?” Jesse whispered. Wolffe shook his head.

“Not yet.” He murmured back, peeking cautiously around the corner. Jesse was trembling slightly next to Wolffe.

“Is… is it bad I’m glad this happened to Cody?” He whispered up to Wolffe. The Commander glanced down at Jesse, curious, and the other trooper continued. “I mean, Clover… he said only one of us was going to get out of here alive. And with Cody… it helps our odds a bit, doesn’t it?” He was shaking slightly, terror on his expression. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, but -.”

“No, brother.” Wolffe murmured, still looking around the corner. “I completely understand.”

He could hear soft rumbling down the hall. Rex and Fives must’ve gotten away, because now the monster was doubling back to look for them now too.

He looked back at Jesse, a funny look on his face. “Only one of us will get out of here. We’ve got to even the odds up a bit.”

“What are you talking about?” Jesse asked.

“You understand, don’t you?” Wolffe whispered, turning fully to face Jesse. “You understand why I have to do this, right?”

Cody – the monster. Stop trying to humanize him – was getting closer. Wolffe could sense him coming up on them quickly.

_They were shooting Plo’s fighter down._

_He had to stop them. He had to make them stop._

_They were killing him. They were killing him. They were killing him._

_I love him._

_Don’t kill him. I love him._

“Wolffe?” Jesse took a hesitant step back. “What’re you saying?”

“I’ve got people waiting for me.” Wolffe reasoned. _“_ I _have_ to get back. They’ll kill General Plo if I don’t stop them.”

“What-.”

“I’m sorry, brother.”

The monster rounded the corner, and Wolffe shoved Jesse forward, letting Cody snatch Jesse and immediately sink his razor sharp teeth into Jesse’s throat.

“Wolffe!” Jesse screamed, trying to push Cody off of him. _“Wolffe!!”_

“I’m sorry.” Wolffe whispered, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry, brother.”

Jesse screamed in agony, and Wolffe ran past them, leaving Jesse to his fate as he doubled back towards safety.

~

**“SUNFLOWER HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM THE GAME.”**

“Wh-What?” Fives asked, looking around anxiously towards Kix. Both he and Rex had made it safely back to the Altar Room, where Kix had been waiting. “Who had the sunflower?”

“I did.” Kix whispered, fishing into his pocket. The flower in his pocket looked like it was bleeding, its delicate yellow petals shredded clean through, the black center beading red as it slowly began to crumble to dust.

“Kix, what did you do?” Rex asked.

“Nothing!” Kix protested, panic springing to his face. “No, no I didn’t – I kept it safe this time! I didn’t do anything to it!”

The sunflower faded away into nothing, and in its place spawned a pretty black flower. The Black Iris.

“Jesse.” Fives murmured, his expression falling. “That’s – that’s the flower Jesse was carrying.”

The realization of what must have happened dawned on Kix, and his knees buckled. The medic collapsed, holding the little black flower desperately in his grip.

“Careful, Kix.” Rex cautioned as Kix held the black flower, soft, heaving sobs wracking his body.

“I can’t – I can’t do this anymore.” He gasped, shaking his head wildly. “I can’t do this!”

“You have to, Kix.” Fives soothed, crouching in front of him. “We can get out of here. We just have to keep going.”

“We’re _never_ going to get out of here!” Kix shouted in Fives’s face. “Don’t you understand?! This is all just a sick fekkin’ game! We’re going to _die_ down here!”

The door thudded open, and Wolffe ran inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Wolffe, where’s Tup?” Rex asked.

“Who?”

“Tup!” Rex insisted. “He went after you and Jesse, to try and bring you back!”

“No, no I didn’t see him.” Wolffe shook his head.

“What about Jesse?” Fives asked, turning to face Wolffe.

“He went down a different path from me. I didn’t see where he went.” Wolffe replied. There was a minute shift in his expression, and Rex narrowed his eyes, but didn’t comment on it.

“We still have to find Tup.” Rex said instead, turning back to the rest of the group.

“He’s got the lightsaber. Even if Cody does find him, he’ll be alright.” Fives reassured the Captain, focusing back on calming Kix down.

“We’re running out of time.” Wolffe crossed his arms. “We need to figure out the next step of the maze. Does anyone know where we could go next?”

“Tup was working on deciphering the message on the holo disc.” Fives spoke up. “There’s got to be some kind of clue there.”

“So Tup still has the clue?” Wolffe growled. “And for all we know he could be dead, with the clue.” He frowned, and looked around, seeming to notice for the first time where they were. “What the hell is this place?”

“It’s the Altar Room.” Rex murmured, also looking around. “It’s where we’re supposed to put our flowers.”

“Well what are we waiting for?!” Wolffe demanded, storming forward.

“It will only work with our own flowers!” Rex called, grabbing his arm. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

Wolffe scowled, but backed off.

“We need Tup back here with the clue.” Fives said from where he was crouched next to Kix. “If he dies with the holo disc on him, we’re done for.”

“Then we have to go back out and look for him.” Rex insisted. “We can’t leave a man behind.”

Wolffe turned back towards the door, listening for a moment to see if the monster was nearby.

“Kix, buddy.” Fives murmured to the medic, trying to help him back to his feet. “We need you all here, mate. Where would we be without our medic?”

“Better off.” Kix mumbled thickly. “All I’ve done is get people killed.”

Before Fives could argue, the door opened, and Tup came in again, his hair stringy and matted, framing his face and making him look wild.

“Tup.” Rex sighed, relieved.

“Did you see Jesse?” Kix asked, a small shred of hope in his voice even Though Jesse was the only one left unaccounted for.

“Yeah.” Tup nodded darkly. “He’s dead.”

He turned to Wolffe, his lip curling up in a snarl.

“Wolffe killed him.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you remember the riddle, my friends?   
> Sort them into groups of three, then one of four.   
> Now take the things you know, and look again. Do you see it now? 
> 
> The fight is just beginning.


	20. The Things They Carried

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking there will probably be 30 Chapters total. Maybe a little less, depending on how these next few scenes shake out. Thank you so much to everyone who's stuck around for this story!! I love all the messages I'm getting both here and on Tumblr. It really makes my day to see so many people interested in this. <3
> 
> Also: Shout out to @Seraf for solving the riddle on the holo-projector! A Character will uncover the secret themselves in the next chapter. ;)

“That’s crazy.” Wolffe said in an oddly calm voice. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Let him finish, Wolffe.” Fives said quietly, turning back to Tup. “Why do you think that, Tup?”

“I saw them together.” Tup accused, glaring Wolffe down. “Cody – he was coming up on them. Wolffe pushed Jesse out in front of Cody and left him to die.”

“That’s not true.” Wolffe insisted, still eerily calm. “Jesse fell. I knew there was nothing I could do for him, so I ran.”

“You’re _lying!”_

“Hey, hey, hey! Easy!” Fives held Tup back, and Kix was looking up at Wolffe with a look of heartbroken betrayal, his eyes glassy.

“I’m sorry, Kix.” Wolffe told the medic. “I did everything I could-.”

“You were only protecting yourself!” Tup shouted. “You sacrificed him to save your own skin! You’re a brother-killer! _Dar’manda!”_

“Easy, Tup!” Fives called over him, pulling him back to his chest.

“Who’s got the kriffin’ binders?” Tup demanded, turning to Rex with wild eyes. “Bind his wrists until he tells us the truth.”

“Enough.” Wolffe raised his hands in surrender. “We don’t have time for this. Tup, where’s the holo-disc?”

“Wolffe.” Rex’s voice, weak with exhaustion and pain from his burns, and yet still commanding, turned to the Commander. “Did you leave Jesse behind?”

The whole room was quiet, and Wolffe bared his teeth. “I did you all a _favor_.” He snarled, clenching his fists. “Only one of us is getting out of here alive, don’t you understand that? I just improved your odds!”

“You’re a murderer!” Tup screamed, trying once again to launch himself at Wolffe, only for Fives to hold him back, though the look in Fives’s eyes told Rex he had half a mind to let Wolffe have it himself.

“How could you do that?” Rex whispered as Kix buried his face in his hands, bending over towards the floor almost like he was praying. “How could you?”

“Because I’m getting out of here.” Wolffe growled. “Look at you. You’re dying anyway, if not down here, then the Jedi will decommission you when we get back. You’re useless without hands, Rex, and you know it.” Wolffe spat. “You think Kix will be kept around after this mess? Look at him! He’s hysterical, he caused the death of a C.O.”

“It wasn’t my fault!!” Kix wailed from the ground. “You killed Jesse!”

“And Fives?” He turned towards the ARC Trooper. “They’ve been looking to get rid of you since Umbara. It was just a matter of time before you slipped up and got shipped back to Kamino. You and Tup? You’re _defective.”_

“So what’s your plan, Wolffe?” Rex demanded. “Pick all of us off one by one? You’re outnumbered, and Tup and Fives are the only ones with some kind of weapon. What did you expect to happen here?”

Wolffe grit his teeth, turning to Tup. “Give me the holo disc.”

“Like hell.” Tup spat. “We’re going to get out of here, and we’re going to leave you here to _rot._ ”

“You think I’m scared of you, Tup?” He asked. “Just because you’ve got a lightsaber suddenly means you’re tough now?” He stepped forward. “You’re small, you’re weak, and you’re _pathetic.”_

“You don’t know what I’m capable of, you-.”

Before Tup could finish, could squirm his way out of Fives’s grip and attack, the room around them suddenly started to shift. The altar places where the flowers were meant to go suddenly began to sink into the ground, the room slowly rotating in two thin rings, the outer one, where Wolffe was standing, began moving clockwise, while the inner ring, where the others stood, moved counter clockwise.

“What’s happening?!” Fives shouted, letting go of Tup and looking down at the moving circles. The innermost circle stood completely still, though a large ray-shield dome was rising around it.

The circles stopped when Wolffe was on the opposite side of the room from the others, and the dome reached up to the ceiling.

**SO, COMMANDER, YOU’VE DECIDED TO TAKE FATE INTO YOUR OWN HANDS. YOU WERE WILLING TO SACRIFICE THE LIFE OF ONE OF YOUR FELLOW SOLDIERS IN ORDER TO SPARE YOUR OWN. HOW INTERESTING.**

The ray-shield parted slightly on Wolffe’s half of the room. There was a box in the center of the dome, opened to face Wolffe.

**YOU KNOW WHAT YOU MUST DO, IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE.**

Wolffe lifted his gaze, looking at his brothers on the other side, and stepped into the dome, reaching into the box.

He withdrew a second lightsaber.

Wolffe powered it on, and gripped it tight. Rex’s breath caught in his throat.

“That’s General Kenobi’s lightsaber.” He murmured. Tup looked at Wolffe at the center of the dome, looked down at his own lightsaber.

“It’s me.” He said suddenly, gripping the lightsaber tightly. “Clover wants me to fight Wolffe.”

He stepped towards the edge of the ray shield, watching as it slowly parted to let him through, and he powered on his own blade, stepping into the dome.

“He can’t be serious.” Fives shook his head, horrified. “They’re not really going to fight to the death, are they?”

“If Tup dies, Wolffe will take the holo-disc.” Rex said suddenly, watching as the dome closed around Tup. “We’ll lose our only chance of getting out of here.”

“Tup doesn’t have the holo-disc.”

Fives and Rex both turned towards Kix, who was looking down at the little holo-projector in his hands.

“Tup must’ve given it to him for safekeeping before he came looking for us.” Fives murmured to Rex.

“It’s part of the game.” Kix mumbled, looking dazedly towards the dome. “Clover said it at the beginning. Only one of us gets to leave here alive.”

Wolffe and Tup stood across from one another, blades raised, and Rex grit his teeth.

And then his brothers began to duel.

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Wolffe has Obi-Wan's lightsaber.  
> Who's Lightsaber is Tup carrying?
> 
> See you tomorrow for the next update!! <3


	21. Duel of the Fates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for all the love and support!! I love getting your messages and comments. <3

“I thought you a better man than this, Commander!” Tup shouted to Wolffe as the two of them circled one another. “You would slaughter your own brothers, just to save your own skin?!”

“What do you make of it Kix?” Rex asked his medic, peering over his shoulder as Kix pulled up the series of words, scanning over them quickly.

BACKFIRES OF WILL CREEPS OVERFLOWS IF COFFER LIVE PROWESS PLY BY POP PAGAN POND RUST JEWELERS OF SUNS BALLAD OXEN INK BOXED FELL OR ROW

“It’s got to be a code.” Kix murmured, scanning the words again. “Backfires of will…”

“It’s not my skin I’m trying to save!” Wolffe snarled in response. “This is more than you can understand, kid. I know things. I’ve _seen_ things here!”

“Cody was seeing things too, wasn’t he?!” Tup cried back. “Wolffe, the things you think you saw down here, they aren’t real! We can all get out of here together!”

“I can’t risk that.” Wolffe insisted. “Just make this easy on yourself, Tup. Don’t make me attack you, let me-.” He paused abruptly, staring at the lightsaber in Tup’s hand. “You – That’s Plo’s lightsaber.” He whispered. “That’s Plo’s!”

“Kix, time’s wasting.” Fives muttered, unable to pull his eyes away from the two men in the dome. Rex wasn’t pushing Kix, knowing full well his medic was already in a fragile state of mind. He crouched next to Kix, looking at the words over his shoulder and watching Kix mumble to himself as he tried to solve the riddle.

“Where did you get that?” Wolffe demanded. “Did you get that here?” He was increasing in panic. “I’m running out of time, they’re going to kill Plo if I can’t get to him in time, I have to-.”

_“Good soldiers follow orders.”_

_They shot down Plo’s ship. Their own General, shot down like he was nothing more than a vulture droid. Wolffe tried to scream, to cry out, to beg his men to stop, stop, this is our General, STOP-!_

_He was the one pulling the trigger, he couldn’t stop. Little gods, he couldn’t stop, somebody stop him, help him, save the General, save-._

“Good soldiers follow orders.” Wolffe panted softly, gritting his teeth. He opened his mouth, glaring Tup down with deep, dark eyes. “Give it back.”

Tup shook his head, squaring his stance. “I won’t.”

“Then you will die.”

The chipper female voice rang through the hall again.

**Attention: Codename Black Iris. FRENZY Activated.**

Wolffe _screamed_ in rage, and threw himself at Tup, their lightsabers clashing in the center of the room.

“Kix!” Fives insisted, finally pulling his gaze away to look back at Rex and Kix, both watching the series of letters. “Hurry!”

“I’m – I’m trying!” Kix insisted, slightly breathless as he stared up at the words helplessly. “Rex.” He turned to the captain. “How many groups of us were there?”

“What do you mean?” Rex asked, watching as the two lightsabers collided again, Wolffe attempting to pin Tup down but the man was far too agile to be caught.

“You and Bly woke up together, right? You were in a group of two.” Kix murmured. “Was anyone else together?”

“I – I think Fives and Jesse were.” Rex nodded.

“Then everyone else was alone. Four of us woke up alone.” He mumbled to himself. “Four alone… Cody, Tup, me, and Wolffe.” He frowned, looking at the words and shook his head. “No. That’s not it.” He turned to Rex again. “What else?”

“What?” Rex asked, confused. “What do you mean what else?”

“Numbers. What else was there?” Kix insisted. “Groups of numbers.” He ignored Rex, thinking to himself. “Groups of three…” He scanned the words again. “Who do we know?” He asked, turning to face Rex again. “Who do we know for sure has flowers in the game?”

“Bly was Poppy.” Rex answered automatically. “And… and Jesse. Jesse was Sunflower.”

“And when Cody became… whatever he is, the voice called him Lotus.” Kix recalled, scanning the words. “Here.” He pointed to PLY BY POP. “It’s jumbled, but this says Bly Poppy.”

It dawned on Rex, and he crouched down next to Kix, scanning the words. “It’s telling us what our flowers are.” He realized.

“Groups of three.” Kix insisted. “Group the words into threes.”

“There’s not enough, there’s one word left over.” Rex shook his head.

“The last one is a group of four.” Kix replied. “That’s gotta be it.”

Wolffe and Tup continued to fight one another in the center of the dome, Fives watching in mute horror as their lightsabers clashed. Tup continued to fight defensively, actively trying not to hurt Wolffe while still deflecting his blows, while Wolffe meanwhile was throwing everything he had at Tup.

“Wolffe, listen to me.” Tup insisted, trying to reason with him. “We can do this. We can all get out of here, we’re smarter than this guy.”

“I have to get back, I have to protect Plo!” Wolffe insisted. “Bad things are coming, and I’m not going to let you,” He swung the blade, Tup narrowly managing to duck around it. “Or Rex,” Another heavy swing. “Or this fekkin’ maniac.” Another, this time blocked with Tup’s own blade, but the force of it knocked him off-balance. “Or anyone else stop me from getting back to my Jedi!”

He kicked Tup in the chest, knocking him backwards, and swung the blade down at him, Tub barely managing to block it in time.

“Come on Tup.” Fives whispered, watching them fight. “Get up, get up, _vod._ ”

Tup pushed back against Wolffe as hard as he could, the commander baring down on him, trying to push the blade down against his throat.

“I got it.” Kix said breathlessly. Sweat had broken across his brow, and he wiped it with a huff. “I have it. I’ve decoded it.” He pointed to each section of the puzzle. “Bly is Poppy, Rex is Bloodflower, Fives is Corpse flower, Cody is Lotus, Tup is Snapdragon, Kix is Belladona, Jesse is Sunflower, and Wolffe…” He paused, looking down at the black flower in his hand. “Wolffe is Black Iris.”

Rex and Kix both looked up at the lightsaber fight in the dome. Tup was pinned down, the lightsaber baring down ever harder.

“I’m sorry.” Wolffe panted down at Tup. “Please, stop struggling. Just let me do this, it doesn’t have to hurt.”

Tup grunted, trying to push back against him to no avail. His arms were beginning to shake, they’d give any moment.

And then Wolffe’s legs started to crumble away to dust.

“Wh-what?” He whispered. His grip loosened, and Tup shouted harshly, shoving Wolffe off him and scurrying back up to his feet, pointing the lightsaber down at him. Wolffe barely noticed, too focused on his legs crumbling away beneath him.

“No.” Wolffe whispered. “No what – what’s happening to me?!”

Fives turned, and Rex stood back in horror as Kix crushed the black flower in his fist, eyes cold as he stared at Wolffe.

“ _Dar’manda.”_ He hissed, squeezing the flower harshly again. Wolffe gasped in pain, falling over as his arms began to cave out from underneath him.

“No!” Wolffe screamed, trying to claw his way over to the edge of the ray shield. “NO! PLEASE!”

“You left your brother to die.” Tup hissed, keeping the lightsaber pointed at him. “Don’t expect any mercy from his _cyare.”_

Wolffe shrieked, the inhuman sound abruptly cut off as the ash climbed up his torso, into his mouth, and slowly consigned him to oblivion.

The remaining four clones stood in silence, chests heaving slightly as they gathered themselves after what they’d been through.

A flower materialized in Kix’s hand, taking the place of the little pile of ash that had once been the Black Iris, and he smiled sadly, stroking one of the petals.

“A Corpse flower.” He murmured, looking up at Fives. “I’ve got you, _vod._ I promise.”

Fives nodded, swallowing roughly. “We’re okay.” He murmured. “We’re-.”

“Fives!” Rex said sharply, pointing back to the dome.

Tup was still trapped inside, and the walls were beginning to compress in towards him.

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think will be the last man standing?   
> See you tomorrow! <3


	22. Eye for an Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short update this time, but it felt like the right place to stop. Thanks again for all your wonderful comments and feedback! It means the world to me.

“The two men infected with the FRENZY reacted very differently than we anticipated.” He said to the woman, glancing up at her.

“Indeed.” She nodded. “Who remains?”

“The remaining subjects are Belladonna, Corpse flower, Bloodflower, and -.”

“So our predictions are still correct so far?” She interrupted.

“Yes ma’am.” The man nodded back. “All our predictions for the final subjects have been correct.”

She hummed quietly. “Very well. Then you know how to proceed.” She nodded, and turned back to the monitors, watching the scene play out.

~

“TUP!” Fives raced up to the ray shield, hit his hand against it desperately. “Tup!”

“The lightsaber!” Rex shouted from beside him. “You’ll have to use the lightsaber, Fives back up!”

Tup struck the shield with the lightsaber, to no avail. He was trapped inside.

“The ceiling!” Kix called, pointing up. “If you can climb to the top, you can use the saber to deactivate the ray shield!”

“He’ll have to let it close more for him to even be able to begin to climb, he’ll never make it in time.” Fives snapped, turning back to Kix. “What do we have?”

“What?”

“What do we have!” Fives shouted. “What’ve we got, there has to be something, something we’ve missed, something we can use to get him out of there!”

“We – we have the binders. Rex has them.” Kix answered shakily. “We’ve got the code, we’ve got the holo-projector – I think you’ve still got your knife -.”

Fives whipped his head back around to Tup. “That’s not enough! None of that is enough! TUP!” He hollered, banging against the ray shield again. It was closing in faster now, tightening in on Tup.

“We’re running out of time.” Kix suddenly realized. “That’s why he’s killing us faster, our twenty four hours are almost up.”

“Tup!” Fives slammed his palms against the shield.

“What’s his flower?” Rex shouted.

“Um – he’s – snapdragon! Tup is Snapdragon!” Kix cried back, his voice panicked and frantic.

“I have that, I have Snapdragon.” Fives whipped his head around. “The altars, they all disappeared.”

“Tup’s the one that has to take his flower to the center anyway, it wouldn’t do you any good to take it.” Kix argued.

“What do you expect us to do?!” Fives raged. Whether he was yelling at Kix, or just yelling to see if Clover answered, nobody could be sure.

**“TO BE CRUSHED TO DEATH BY THE RAY SHIELD IS A MOST PAINFUL WAY TO GO.”**

“You bastard!” Fives screamed to the voice. “You sick son of a bitch! Let him out! Let him GO!”

**“THE SOLDIER WILL DIE REGARDLESS, BUT YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE HIS DEATH QUICK AND PAINLESS, OR SLOW AND AGONIZING.”**

“What the kriff is that supposed to mean?” Fives snarled.

**“YOU BLAME YOURSELF FOR THE DEATH OF CT-21-0408, DO YOU NOT?”**

Fives paused.

“CT-21-0408, that’s -.” Kix paused, glancing back at Fives. “That’s Echo.”

**“THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE IT RIGHT, SOLDIER. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO KILL ANOTHER BROTHER, EVEN IF IT MEANS GRANTING HIM A SWIFT DEATH? OR WILL YOU STAND ASIDE, AND WATCH WHILE HE SUFFERS, JUST TO KEEP YOUR CONSCIENCE CLEAN? THE CHOICE IS YOURS.”**

“What’s he talking about, Fives?” Rex asked, looking over at Fives. “Vod, what does he want you to do?”

Fives looked up at the ray shield, watched as it got closer and closer to Tup. He was nearly boxed in now.

“Snapdragon.” He mumbled to himself, looking down at his hands. “He gave me Tup for a reason.” He looked over at Rex, then reached into his jacket pocket, slowly pulling out the snapdragon and running his thumb over the petals.

“He wants me to destroy the flower. He wants me to kill Tup.”

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does Anybody know who Clover is yet?  
> See you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Updates come every five days. I'm rowansparrow-writing on Tumblr. Come say hi! Let me know what you think of this story. :)


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